Download Pick 4 types of interactions - Tanque Verde Unified School District

Name: ________________________________
Date: _______________________
Period: ____
Types of Species Interactions
Recall there are 5 types of interactions between species: Competition, Predation, Parasitism, Mutualism
and Commensalism.
Pick 4 types of interactions (one choice MUST BE mutualism or commensalism) and do the following
research:
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Identify the type of species interaction
Describe in detail the 2 species involved in the interaction
Geographic location & description of habitat where the interaction takes place (example:
Sonoran desert , southwestern USA)
Identify each species as a generalist or specialist and why (see information below)
Adaption(s) of each species
Sketch/print/photo of each species
Fill in the tables on the back with your information.
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Generalists
Generalists may forage on a variety of food items or be able to live in a variety of habitats. Specialists, as
the name implies, are fussier about where they live or what they eat. There are benefits to both strategies.
Generalists have a much easier time coping with the loss of a food species or type of habitat while
specialists are harder hit by those types of changes to the environment.
Specialists
However, specialists rarely have much competition for the resources they use, while generalists have to
compete with all the other generalists around. Additionally, many specialists eat plants or animals that are
toxic or undesirable to other species, reducing competition for that resource even further.
Perhaps the best known specialist is the koala bear who survives exclusively on a diet of eucalyptus
leaves. While there are multiple species of eucalyptus and koalas are capable of foraging on all of them,
they are the only animal that eats eucalyptus leaves.
Source: Ecological Specialization, https://explorable.com/ecological-specialization, Retrieved Jan.13,
2016.
Name: ________________________________
Date: _______________________
Period: ____
Names of species interacting
Geographic location &
description of habitat
Adaption(s) of each species
Is each species a generalist or
specialist and why
Sketch, print, or photo of each
species
Type of Interaction:
Type of Interaction:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Name: ________________________________
Date: _______________________
Period: ____
Names of species interacting
Geographic location &
description of habitat
Adaption(s) of each species
Is each species a generalist or
specialist and why
Sketch, print, or photo of each
species
Type of Interaction:
Type of Interaction:
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Name: ________________________________
Date: _______________________
Period: ____