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Best Buddies
A look at Symbiotic Relationships
in an ecosystem.
Symbiotic-Relationships

Every plant & critter needs energy
to survive & thrive. Because of
this, many inter-species
relationships have been forged for
the survival and purpose of
accumulating this energy.

In today’s lesson we will examine
these ecological relationships and
how they either benefit or harm
one another.
Symbiosis/ Symbiotic Relationships
The living together of two dissimilar organisms and how they
get their food.
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1.
2.
3.
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1.
2.
3.
Think in terms of benefit, harmed or killed.
These can be categorized into 3 categories
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Other ecological relationships include:
Producer/ Consumer
Competition
Predator / Prey
Producer / Consumer

Producer produces
food

Consumer eats the
food
Competition

Both species both compete and fight for the
same space and food.
Two types of predators competing for
food
Two Bugs competing for nectar in a
flower
Predator / Prey

One species benefits, the other DIES!
Parasitism

One species benefits, the other is harmed but
NOT killed.
A parasitic wasp that laid her eggs on or in
the spiny caterpillar's body. The parasitic
wasp larvae ate most of their host,
avoiding the vital organs, so that the
caterpillar stayed alive.
Mosquitoes sucking blood (and possibly
transferring a disease)
Commensalism

One specie is benefited, the other neither
benefits nor is harmed
The barnacle benefits by finding a habitat
where nutrients are available. The presence of
barnacle populations does not appear to
hamper or enhance the survival of the animals
carrying them.
The fish gains protection and the
anemone is neither harmed nor
helped
Humpback whale
Mutualism

Both Species Mutually Benefit from each
other
The fungus gets food from the
photosynthesizing algae and the algae gets
a place to live.
The caterpillars have nectar organs
which the ants drink from. The ants
provide protection for the caterpillar.
Ecosystem Relationships
type of interaction
Mutualism
Commensalism
Competition
Predator/Prey,
Parasitism,
Producer/Consumer
sign effects
+/+
both species benefit from each
other’s relationship
+/0
one species benefits, one is
unaffected
-/-
each species are affected
negatively
+/-
one species benefits, one is
disadvantaged
Class Activity

Best Buddies

These next 12 slides represent relationships in nature, as
we go through each determine which type of relationship
they represent.
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Relationships:
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Producer/Consumer
Producer/Decomposer
Predator/Prey
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Competition
Mushroom
Forest
Forests take in sunlight and produce food.
Meanwhile the mushroom helps to break
down dead stuff and recycle the material
back into the forest ecosystem.
Elephant
Grassland
The savannahs of Africa are home to
many elephants and other critters. They
provide food, shelter and water that the
elephants need to live and survive.
Hunter
Elk
During the months of October,
many hunters help reduce the
number of elk in the forest by
hunting them and using their
meat for food.
Grasshopper
Leaves
Grasshoppers have been known to devour whole crops. They eat most any vegetation.
Ant
Aphid
Aphids get their energy and nutrients from sucking on the sugar in the sap found in
plants. But they don’t need all of the sugar they get from the sap and pass it on as
honeydew. Ants collect the honeydew by tapping on their antenna and offer
protection from predators.
Cowbird
(Eats insects stirred up by herds)
Bison
Bison used to travel in herds across the plains,
as they walked through the grass the insects
would fly out of the grass and the cowbirds would
eat them. The cowbirds would follow the bison,
which helped them catch insects. This neither
helped or hurt the bison.
Honey Guide
(Eats Bee Larve)
Honey Badger
(Loves to eat honey)
Honey guide birds exhibit a unique pattern by calling out
loudly and chattering that attracts the badger's attention.
Then flies ahead, toward the bees' nest, making sure the
badger is following.
On arrival, the badger tears open the bees' nest and feast
on the bees' wax, honey, and larvae --making sure some
are left over for its loyal referral--the honey guide bird.
Snail
Has a home – gets rid of it when he’s
out grown it.
Hermit Crab
Needs a Home
A hermit crab lives in shells
that are made and then
abandoned by snails. This
neither harms nor benefits
the snail.
Tick
Deer
A tick feeds on deer blood to the detriment of the deer.
Warbler
Cuckoo
A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a warbler’s
nest. The cuckoo’s young will displace
the warbler’s young and will be raised by
the warbler.
Gazelle
Ostrich
These two animals feed next to each other in the grasslands. Both watch for predators
and alert each other to danger. The visual abilities of these two animals are different
so they are able to identify threats the other animal would not see.
Shark
Remora
A remora attaches themselves to a shark’s body. They travel with the shark and
feed on the left over food from the shark’s meals. This does not hurt or help the
shark.