Interactions Among Living Things Chapter 22-3

Adapting to the Environment Every organism has a variety of adaptations that are suited to its specific living conditions. An organism’s particular role, or how it makes its living is called its niche.

A niche includes the type of food the organism eats, how it obtains this food, and which other species use the organism as food. There are 3 major types of interactions: competition, predation, and symbiosis

Competition Competition is the struggle between organisms to survive in a habitat with limited resources. By “specializing” or finding their own places to feed, organisms reduce competition, and can coexist.

Predation An interaction in which one organism kills and eats another organism Predators have adaptations that help them catch and kill their prey (a shark’s powerful jaws)

Prey organisms have adaptations that help them avoid being caught and eaten (camouflage, mimicry, protective coverings)

Symbiosis A close relationship between two species that benefits at least one of the species 3 types of symbiosis: *mutualism-both species benefit *commensalism-one species benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed

*Parasitism-one species is helped and the other is harmed