Interactions. Making a Living in the Ecosystem

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Interactions in Ecosystems

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Habitat

All of the biotic and abiotic factors in the area where an organism lives

Lion habitat

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Ecological Niche

All of the physical, chemical, and biological factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy, and reproduce

Food

Abiotic conditions

Behavior

Slide 4

Competitive Exclusion

When two species are competing for the same resources, one species will be better suited to the niche, and the other species will be pushed into another niche or become extinct

Invasive species may outcompete organisms that are native to a particular region

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Predation

The process by which one species captures and feeds upon another

Heterotrophs can prey on autotrophs and other heterotrophs

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Predator – Prey Cycles

Prey outnumber predators

Increasing numbers of prey promote increases in predator populations

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Symbiosis

A close ecological relationship between two or more organisms of different species that live in direct contact with one another

Mutualism

Commensalism

Parasitism

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Mutualism

An interspecies interaction in which both species benefit

Flowers and pollinating insects

Humans and intestinal E. coli

Clown fish and anemones

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Commensalism

A relationship between two organisms in which one receives an ecological benefit from another, while the other neither benefits or is harmed

Many ecologists believe that commensalism is rare, and that most such relationships are probably subtle mutualism or parasitism

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Parasitism

A relationship in which one species benefits while the other is harmed.

Many parasites have complex lifecycles involving more than one host

Seen “Alien” ?

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The Parasitic Life Cycle of the Tse-Tse Fly

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