1. Ecological Relationships & Symbiosis

2. Alabama Biology Objective
Part 1 of objective #16
16. Identify density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors that affect populations in an Ecosystem
Density-dependent—disease, predator-prey relationships, availability of food and water
Density-independent—natural disasters, climate, innate behaviors (migration), human impact
Part 2 of Objective #16
Symbiotic Relationships: Discriminating among symbiotic relationships, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

3. Symbiosis
A close relationship between two species where at least one of the organisms receives some kind of benefit (ex. food, shelter)
There are three types of Symbiosis:
Mutualism
Parasitism
Commensalism

4. Mutualism
Both organisms benefit, each species providing something needed by the other species.
Termites have protozoans that live in their gut and digest wood cellulose
Flowering plants and pollinating insects
Plants provide food; insects cross-pollinate

5. Parasitism One Benefits, the other is HARMED
Parasite relies on host for food
Host is harmed, but usually not killed
Endoparasites: live within host
viruses, microbes
Ectoparasites: live outside of host
insects, mites, ticks

6. Commensalism
One organism benefits, the other organism neither harmed nor benefited. (could care less.)

7. Whale & Barnacles

8. Whale and Barnacles Barnacles attach to whale and receives a home
Whale is not benefited nor harmed
Which kind of symbiosis is this?

9. Whale & Barnacles Commensalism

10. Lamprey and fish

11. Lamprey and fish
The lamprey, a jawless fish, attaches to other fish and feeds on their blood and tissues
Fish does not die, but may be weakened
Which symbiotic relationship is this?

12. Lamprey & Fish Parasitism

13. Cleaner shrimp and fish

14. Cleaner shrimp and fish
Cleaner shrimp removes parasites from fish, then eats the parasites
Fish now has fewer parasites that could cause it harm
Which symbiotic relationship is this?

15. Cleaner Shrimp & Fish Mutualism

16. Deer and Ticks

17. White-tailed deer and tick
Ticks live in tall grasses and attach to the bodies of passing deer and other animals
Tick requires blood meals from the deer to reproduce
Deer can be weakened from the tick feeding on it
What form of symbiosis is this?

18. Deer and Ticks Parasitism

19. Lyme disease and deer ticks
Lyme disease occurs when ticks infected with a certain bacteria bite humans
Symptoms include include fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic skin rash

20. Remora & Shark

21. Shark and Remora fish
Remora attaches to shark’s body and travels with shark feeding on food scraps from the shark’s meals
Shark not benefited nor harmed
What kind of symbiosis would this be?

22. Shark & Remora Fish Commensalism

23. Acacia Tree and Ants

24. Acacia tree and Ants
The ants live and feed in special nodes of the acacia tree
The ants protect the tree by swarming and attacking humans and other animals that might try to eat from the tree
What is the relationship here?

25. Acacia Tree and Ants Mutualism

26. Yucca Plant & Yucca Moth

27. Yucca flowers are pollinated by Yucca moths
Yucca flowers are pollinated by Yucca moths. The moths lay their eggs in the flowers where the larvae hatch and eat some of the developing seeds.
Both benefit from living together.

28. Yucca Plant & Yucca Moth Mutualism

29. Oxpecker & Rhinocerous
The Fable of the Rhino and the Oxpecker

30. Oxpeckers feed on the ticks found on a rhinoceros.
Both species benefit.

31. Oxpecker & Rhinocerous Mutualism

32. Honey Badger & Honey Guide Bird

33. Honey guide birds alert & direct badgers to bee hives
Honey guide birds alert & direct badgers to bee hives. The badgers then expose the hives & feed on the honey first. Then the honey guide birds eat.
Both species benefit.

34. Honey Badger & Honey Guide Bird Mutualism

35. Gazelle & Ostrich

36. Ostriches & gazelles feed next to each other
Ostriches & gazelles feed next to each other. They both watch for predators & alert each other to danger. Since the visual abilities of the 2 species are different, they can identify threats the other animal would not as readily see.
Both species benefit.

37. Black Sea Bass & Wrasse Fish

38. Mutualism
Wrasse fish feed on the parasites found on the black sea basses body. Both species benefit.

39. Black Sea Bass &
odd looking Homo sapien
Wrasse Fish

40. Commensalism Black Sea Bass & Wrasse Fish

41. Cuckoo Bird & Warbler Bird

42. A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a Warbler’s nest
A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a Warbler’s nest. The cuckoo’s young will displace the warbler’s young and will be raised by the warbler.

43. Cuckoo Bird & Warbler Bird
Parasitism

44. Parasitism -Warbler raising cuckoos

45. Mistletoe & Spruce Tree

46. Mistletoe extracts water and nutrients from the spruce tree to the tree’s detriment.

47. Mistletoe & Spruce tree Parasitism

48. Kissing under the Mistletoe
According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. The custom is of Scandinavian origin.
In Norse mythology, Baldr was a god of vegetation.
His mother, Frigga, dreamt that the mischievous god Loki and a blind god Höðr, would run a spear through her son. To prevent this, she made every plant, animal, and inanimate object promise not to harm her son Baldr.
The story goes that Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant, so Loki was able to trick the blind god into killing her son Baldr, with a spear fashioned from mistletoe.
Baldr's death brought winter into the world, until the gods restored him to life.
Then Frigga declared the mistletoe sacred, ordering that from now on it should bring love rather than death into the world.
Happily complying with Frigga's wishes, any two people passing under the plant from now on would celebrate Baldr's resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe.

49. Benefits and Ecological Importance of Mistletoe
A broad array of animals depend on mistletoe for food, consuming the leaves and young shoots, transferring pollen between plants, and dispersing the sticky seeds.
The sticky juice of mistletoe berries was used as adhesive to trap small animals or birds.
A study of mistletoe in junipers concluded that more juniper berries sprout in stands where mistletoe is present, as the mistletoe attracts berry-eating birds which also eat juniper berries.

50. Mouse & Fleas Parasitism
A flea feeds on the mouse’s blood to the mouse’s detriment.

51. Silverfish & Army Ants

52. Commensalism
Silver fish live with and hunt with army ants. They share the prey. They neither help nor harm the ants.

53. Marabou Stork and Bee

54. Commensalism
The stork uses it saw-like bill to cut up the dead animals it eats. As a result, the dead animal carcass is accessible to some bees for food and for egg laying.

55. Buffalo (herbivores) & Cowbird

56. Commensalism
As buffalos walk through grass, insects become active and are seen and eaten by cowbirds. This neither harms nor benefits the buffalos.

57. Buffalo (herbivores) & Cowbird

58. Snail Shell & Hermit Crab

59. Hermit crabs live in shells made & then abandoned by snails
Hermit crabs live in shells made & then abandoned by snails. This neither harms or benefits the snails.

60. Snail Shell & Hermit Crab
Commensalism

61. Whale & Barnacles

62. Marabou Stork and Bee

63. Acacia Tree and Ants

64. Lamprey and fish

65. Cleaner shrimp and fish

66. Acacia Tree and Ants Mutualism

67. Gazelle & Ostrich

68. Mistletoe & Spruce Tree

69. Cuckoo Bird & Warbler Bird