Download How Living things interact

How Living
things interact
Adapting to the
Environment
• All organisms
within
ecosystems
have a special
set of
characteristics
that affect
their ability to
survive in their
environment
Natural Selection
• Natural Selection- A
characteristic that
makes an individual
better suited to its
environment.
Eventually this trait
may become
common in that
species because it
is passed from
parent to offspring.
“Survival of the fitteSt”
• Ever heard of
this? Organisms
with unique
characteristics
are better suited
to survive in
their
environment.
They tend to
survive. They
then pass these
good traits on to
their offspring.
Adaptations
• A result of natural
selection
• Adaptations- the
behaviors and
physical
characteristics that
allow organisms to
live successfully in
their environments.
• If they do not well
suited to survive in
their environment
they will not
reproduce as much.
What will happen to
them?
What is a Niche?
• Each organism has a role
in an ecosystem based
on its adaptations to its
environment. Each
organism’s role in its
habitat is called its
niche. This involves the
type of food they eat,
how it obtains food, and
others that prey on this
organism. A niche is
also the physical
conditions and how the
organism reproduces.
Predator Adaptations
• An adaptation
that helps them
catch their prey.
For example a
horse shoe bat
sends out sound
waves and
located its prey
by listening for
the echo.
Prey Adaptations
• Organisms
avoid being
eaten by their
predators by
using certain
adaptations
Prey’S DefenSe
Strategies
• Mimicrydisguising their
appearance as
a threatening
organism.
• An example is
this caterpillar.
Its rear end
looks like a
snake!!
Prey Adaptations
• Another defense
strategy is
camouflage
• Camouflagewhen an
organism’s
appearance
blends in with its
typical
surroundings
Another Defense Strategy
• Warning
color- bright
colored
animals warn
their
predators
that they are
poisonous, or
just won’t
taste good!
Types of Interactions
• Three types:
1) Competition- the
struggle between
organisms to
survive as they
attempt to use the
same limited
resource . If an
animal has a unique
adaptation that
reduces
competition
between organisms.
The elf owl and the
roadrunner both live in
the sanguaro desert
and they both eat
insects. They compete
for food, but do not
occupy exactly the
same niche. While the
roadrunner is mostly
active during the day,
the owl is active during
the night.
If these animals did
share exactly the same
niche one of the
species would
eventually die off.
Types of Interactions
2) Predationwhen an
organism kills
another for food
Types of Interaction
• Three types
• 3) Symbiosis- a
close
relationship
between two
species that
benefit at least
one organism
Types of Symbiosis
• Mutualism- A
relationship in
which both
species
benefit
Types of Symbiosis
• Commensalism- a
relationship in
which one
species benefits
and the other
species is neither
helped or harmed.
(Not as common
because most
organisms affect
each other in
some way)
Types of Symbiosis
• Parasitism- a
relationship where
one organism
benefits and the
other is harmed.
• The parasite
benefits, the host
is harmed. The
parasite usually
does not kill the
organism it feeds
on because if it
does die, the
parasite loses its
source of
food/shelter
Types of Symbiosis
Moth mites almost always live in just one ear of a moth. If they
lived in both ears the moths hearing would be so badly
affected that it is likely quickly caught and eaten by a predator,
such as a bat.