In nature, each organism does not live in isolation, but in close interaction with other biological species. Their nature can be different - from mutually beneficial to dangerous. In our article, we will get acquainted with examples of lodging, parasites and companionship.
Main types of ecological interactions
The most striking manifestations of ecological interactions are spatial and food connections. The main ones are as follows:
- Neutralism, in which species have no effect on each other.
- Amensalism, when one species is oppressed while the other is neither harmed nor benefited.
- Protocooperation - mutually beneficial, but not obligatory cohabitation of different species.
- Predation is a relationship in which one type is a source of food for others.
- Pasitism - one organism lives off the nutrients of another.
- Commensalism is a type of relationship in which one species receives a clear benefit without affecting the other. His examples are lodging,parasitism and companionship.
Housing: definition and examples
In this type of relationship, one organism uses the other as a permanent home or temporary shelter. Examples of lodging in biology are very common among plants. There is even a separate group of such organisms. They are called epiphytes. This term comes from two Greek words: "epi" - "from above" and "phytos" - "plant". These include many types of mosses, vines, orchids, ferns.
Plants that are the place of their growth, epiphytes do not cause any harm. They are used solely as a support. This feature allows epiphytes not to depend on the state of the soil and to be located closer to the sun. There are also epiphytes-algae that settle on other species of lower or on aquatic flowering plants.
A typical example of lodging in the animal kingdom is the bitter fish. She lays her eggs in the mantle cavity of the toothless bivalve mollusk. This is a reliable protection for future offspring.
Small birds live on the body of huge buffaloes. They clean the fur of the animal, finding particles of food for themselves. That's why they are called so - draggers.
And on the body of sharks, which are dangerous predators, small fish find refuge. That's what they call - sticky. With the help of a muscular sucker, they are attached to the body of a predator,long time traveling in this way. Stingrays can also attach to stingrays and turtles.
Small fish can also be found between the tentacles of large jellyfish. Since the former are predators, cod and haddock fry are reliably protected from other dangerous inhabitants of the sea.
Other types of commensalism
In addition to lodging, examples of commensalism are parasites and companionship. In the first case, one species of animal eats up the remnants of food of another. So, hyenas follow the lions, eating the remains of their prey. An example of companionship is different types of bacteria that feed on the same chemical elements.
Thus, commensalism is an ecological type of interaction between organisms, in which one species receives a significant benefit, while the other does not feel harm. Its varieties are lodging, freeloading and companionship.
