Download Community Relationships

Bees and Flowers
 Flowers provide food for
bees. Bees spread the
seeds of flowers (pollen)
which allows them to
reproduce.
Strangler Fig
 The strangler fig grows
around other trees to climb
to the top of the of forest
where it can get light.
 It blocks out the light for
the tree it grows around
Whales and Barnacles
 Barnacles attach themselves to hard surfaces like docks, and whales.
They “drink” seawater and eat microorganisms
 Although they may look uncomfortable, they do not help or hurt the
whale.
Wolf and Rabbit
 Wolves eat rabbits. Enough said.
Clownfish and Sea Anemone
 Clownfish hide in
poisonous sea anemones
which protect them from
larger fish.
 The sea anemone uses the
feces from the clownfish as
fertilizer to help it grow.
Egyptian Plover and Crocodile
 Egyptian plover eats the leftover
food stuck between the
crocodile’s teeth. A good meal!
 The crocodile gets it’s teeth
cleaned.
Lion and Zebra
 Lions hunt zebras. Once
they have killed one, often
times zebras will continue
to graze (eat grass) right
next to the lions who are
eating their friend. They
know that the lions won’t
kill more than they can eat.
Water Buffalo an Cattle Egrets
 Cattle Egrets perch on top
of water buffalo. As the
water buffalo walks, it stirs
up the mud and causes
insects to come to the
surface that the egret can
eat.
Tapeworm and Humans
 Tapeworms attach to your
intestines and suck out all of
your food. If you have a
tapeworm, you have to eat
much more food to get
enough nutrients to stay
healthy.
 Before modern medicine,
people would get rid of
tapeworms by placing a
piece of meat in the front of
the mouth. The tapeoworm
would smell the meat and
climb up your throat and
could be pulled out of the
mouth. They can get to be
20 meters long!
Lions/Tigers and Jackals
 Jackals follow around lions or
tigers and wait for them to make
a kill. When the lion has eaten all
it can eat, the jackal finishes off
the carcass.
 The jackal doesn’t have to hunt
it’s own meal, and the lion or
tiger could care less.
Bedbugs and Humans
 Bedbugs live in mattresses
and clothing and suck
blood for food. They can
live up to 350 days without
a meal and are very hard to
get rid of.
 The US is in the middle of
the biggest bedbug
infestation in years.
Ladybug and Aphid
 Aphids are a common pest
in gardens and can destroy
plants.
 Ladybugs are loved by
gardeners because they kill
aphids by the hundreds.
Trees and Spanish Moss
 Spanish moss hangs from
trees. It doesn’t help or
hurt the tree in any way.
The Cuckoo and other birds
 The cuckoo is a nest
stealer. It waits until
another bird has made its
nest and then moves in.
 The other bird has no
choice but to build another
nest.
Lichen (algae and fungi)
 Lichen is a combination of algae
and fungi living in perfect
harmony.
 The algae photosynthesizes and
creates food for the fungi. The
fungi soaks up water and
provides it for the algae.
 Together, they are able to live
on rocks!
Humans and Dogs
 Dogs were first
domesticated by humans
about 15,000 years ago. At
first, dogs lived off the
scraps of meat humans
didn’t need.
 Eventually, they began to
be used as watch dogs,
sheep dogs, and even as
hunters.
So, what are these called?
 http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/23490-the-web-of-lifesymbiosis-video.htm
Symbiosis
•Symbiosis is a close and permanent
relationship between two organisms.
•Symbiosis means living together.
There are three kinds of symbiosis:
mutualism, commensalism, and
parasitism.
Mutualism
• Mutualism is
a symbiotic
relationship in
which both
species
benefit.
This little fish is
helping me by
cleaning my
teeth!!! Yeah!!!
I’m eating the big
fish’s food so he’s
helping me too!
Yeah!!!
Commensalism
Commensalism is
a symbiotic
relationship in
which one species
benefits and the
other species is
neither harmed
nor benefited.
In this picture, Spanish moss is
growing on the trees. The moss
benefits because it has a place
to live, and the tree doesn’t care.
Parasitism
Some interactions are harmful to one
species, yet beneficial to another.
Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in
which a member of one species
benefits and the other species is
harmed is called parasitism.
Predation
Predation is when one animal eats another animal.
It is not a type of symbiosis, but it is an
interaction between organisms.
A predator is a type of consumer. Predators seek
out and eat other organisms. The organisms the
predators eat are called prey.
Predator
Prey
•Predation is found in all ecosystems
and includes organisms that eat plants
and animals.
•The animals that predators eat are
called prey.
Relationship
Organism 1
Organism 2
Mutualism
+
+
Commensalism
+
0
Parasitism
+
- (animal lives…at
least for a while)
Predation
+
- (animal dies)
Now, go back and label all of
the community relationships
we talked about
Why are these relationships
important?
1. The more community relationships there are, the
stronger the community!
Each of these relationships represents a pathway for
energy to take through an ecosystem. The more
pathways there are, the more energy can be
captured and made to flow through the ecosystem.
A tropical rainforest has so many organisms
interacting with each other, that hardly any energy
goes to waste!
Why are these relationships
important?
2. Community relationships help maintain balance in an
ecosystem.
In the 1970’s wolves were killed off in Yellowstone. As a result,
the number of deer and rabbits SKYROCKETED. There were so
many deer that the grass in the National Park disappeared. This
was bad not only for the deer, but for all the animals that relied
on the grass for food. There was even a decrease in the number
of bald eagles and other Birds of Prey. All because the wolves
were eliminated!
In short, even relationships that are bad for individual organisms
(like parasites) are good for the health of the ecosystem
because they keep it in balance
Why are these
relationships important?
 3. They help maintain BIODIVERSITY—a large variety of
organisms in a ecosystem.
 Ecosystems with more biodiversity are less likely to be wiped
out by changes in the environment or new species.
 For example, imagine an ecosystem with only one kind of
producer. If that producer were killed by a new kind of fungus,
the whole ecosystem would fail. On the other hand, if there
were 50 different kinds of producers, no single fungus (or
drought, new species, etc) could wipe them all out.
More on BIODIVERSITY
 Biodiversity is also important because many helpful drugs, medicines, and
scientific discoveries have been found in living things.




Taxol: a strong anti-cancer drug comes from a the Pacific Yew (a bush)
Rosy Periwinkle is a source for a possible cure to leukemia
Willow Bark was the original source of aspirin
Maybe the cure to HIV or cancer will be found in a rare species in the
rainforest?
 Biodiversity supplies humans with a diverse diet. Right now, many marine
species are being threatened by a lack of biodiversity. It is possible that
we may see the end of Tuna in our lifetimes!
 Biodiversity makes are rainforests stronger. Rainforests are the source of
most of the Oxygen we breathe!
 Finally, biodiversity is more enjoyable! It is more pleasant to be in places
that have more biodiversity
Forestry Technician
 Work outdoors to help maintain,
protect, and develop forests by
planting trees, fighting insects
and diseases that attack trees
and controlling soil erosion.
 Help to manage biomes by
analyzing data, planting trees,
and managing fires when
necessary. Forestry technicians
directly contibute to people’s
enjoyment of of the outdoors
and help keep our forests alive
and well.
 Education: 2-4 year college
degree in forestry, wildlife, or
conservation.
 Try getting summer work in a
state or national park (plenty in
Colorado).
 A forestry technician needs
knowledge of the outdoors,
communication skills for
working with the public, keen
observational skills, and physical
fitness for walking long
distances through forests.
 Forestry technicians make
about 43,ooo dollars a year, and
often get a season off!
Exit Slip
 1: A flea jumps on a dog and sucks its blood for food.
 2: A fungi connects trees underground. The fungi soaks up sugars
from the tree roots, but also helps the tree roots absorb more
nutrients from the soil.
 3: A lonely woman takes care of a cat she found on the street and
feeds it. The cat keeps the woman company and makes her happier.
 4: The two-toned Wasp lays its eggs on live caterpillars so that when
the eggs hatch, the young wasps have ready nutrition. When the
Wasps grow to adulthood, they eat their way out of the killed
caterpillar.
 5: Ants protect certain aphids and bring them to their food source at
appropriate times in their life cycles. The aphids secrete a sweet
substance called “honeydew” that the ants collect and eat.