6 Types of Symbiotic Relationships EXPLAINED (with examples)
1. Competition (-/-)
Published in
2 min readOct 27, 2016
- Definition: the struggle of individuals to obtain a shared limiting resource
- Competitive Exclusion Principle: Two different species cannot share the same resource in the same conditions; one will always be excluded from the resource if it has a competitive disadvantage
- Resource Partitioning: Different species can share, or partition, the same resource if they have different behaviors in using that resource
- Example: coyotes and wolves hunt similar prey, but at different times of day, which allows them to coexist
2. Predation (+/-)
- Definition: an interaction in which one animal typically kills and consumes another animal
- Example: lions eating gazelles, cows eating grass
3. Parasitism (+/-)
- Definition: an interaction in which one organism (the parasite) lives on or in another organism (the host)
- Key Distinctions: Many parasites are necessary to harm a host, as each only has a small effect
- Examples: tapeworms, bacteria, pathogens (parasites that cause disease)
4. Herbivory (+/-)
- Definition: an interaction in which an animal consumes a producer, or plant
- Key Distinctions: Usually, animals only eat a portion of a plant without ‘killing’ it
- Examples: Gazelles eating grass, or sea urchins eating algae
5. Mutualism (+/+)
- Definition: When two interacting species benefit each other by mutually increasing both species’ chances of survival or reproduction
- Examples: Oxpecker birds gain a safe habitat on rhinoceros’s backs and in exchange eat parasites and insects that would harm rhinos
6. Commensalism (+/0)
- Definition: Species interactions in which one species benefits, but the other is neither harmed nor helped
- Examples: fish hide in coral reefs and gain protection from predators without affecting the reefs