Download 22-3 Interactions Among Living Things

21-3 Interactions Among
Living Things
o Every organism has a variety of
adaptations that are suited to its specific
living conditions.
o Adaptations are either physical, behavioral,
or a combination of features that allow
organisms to successfully survive in their
environments
Niches
Niche: an organisms particular role or
how it makes its living including its
types of food, how it gets it, what
species use it for food, when and how it
reproduces, and the physical conditions
it needs for survival
The 3 Major Types of Interactions
Between
Organisms (competition, predation,symbiosis)
1.) Competition: the struggle between
organisms to survive in a habitat with
limited resources.
For example, on the savannah, many
organisms are herbivores and compete
with each other for available forage
(grasses, leaves, etc)
3 Major Interactions (cont.)
* Many organisms develop adaptations to avoid
competition. For example, some plants produce
toxins that retard the growth of other plants, reducing
competition with other plants for available resources
2.) Predation: an interaction where one
organism hunts and kills another for food.
There are two types of predation adaptations:
Predator adaptations and Prey adaptations.
 Predator adaptations: adaptations that help them
catch food like a cheetah’s speed (or claws) or the
venom of a cobra.
Dinner!!!
Run Away…Run
Away…Run…aghh !!!
Prey Adaptations
Prey Adaptations: these are
defensive adaptations that help
an organism avoid predation.
These include:
Camouflage : adaptations which
help an organism blend into their
backgrounds
Camouflage :(cont.)
Warning Coloring: bright colors warn
predators that these organism are
poisonous or noxious
Mimicry: this strategy relies on
making the organism appear to be
another more dangerous one
Mimicry (cont.)
False Coloring: this adaptation
confuses or startles predators
Protective Coverings: these make
it difficult or painful to prey on these animals so
predators tend to avoid them.
3 Major Interactions (cont.)
3.) Symbiosis: a close relationship
between two species that benefits
at least one species.
 There are at three types of
symbiotic relationships: mutualism,
commensalism, and parasitism.
Mutualism
Mutualism: a relationship where both species
benefit (bees and flowering plants).
Commensalism
Commensalism: a relationship where one
species benefits and the other is neither
helped nor harmed (birds nesting in trees)
Parasitism
Parasitism: a relationship where one
organism-called the parasite- benefits
by living on or inside another-called the
host- , harming it. (ticks, leeches,
tapeworms).
Parasites (continued)