Download Ecosystems

Ecosystems
Species Interactions
What Eats What?
How Species Interact With Each Other
• Predation: one organism kills and eats another organism
Predator/Prey – lion eats zebra, snake eats mouse
• Competition: two or more organisms attempt to use the
same resource
E.g. – two plants on forest floor compete for sunlight
• Parasitism: the relationship between the parasite and its
host
E.g. – Ticks on a Hedgehog
• Mutualism: relationship between two species in which
both benefit
E.g. – Ants and Acacia Trees
• Commensalism: relationship between two species in which one
benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped
E.g. – Remora and Shark
Food Chain
A sequence in which energy is transferred from one organism to the next as
each organism eats another.
Food Web
Shows feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
Trophic Level
A step in the transfer of energy through an ecosystem.