Community Relationships

Bees and Flowers

Flowers provide food for bees. Bees spread the seeds of flowers (pollen) which allows them to reproduce.

Strangler Fig

The strangler fig grows around other trees to climb to the top of the of forest where it can get light.

It blocks out the light for the tree it grows around

Whales and Barnacles

Barnacles attach themselves to hard surfaces like docks, and whales. They “drink” seawater and eat microorganisms

Although they may look uncomfortable, they do not help or hurt the whale.

Wolf and Rabbit

Wolves eat rabbits. Enough said.

Clownfish and Sea Anemone

Clownfish hide in poisonous sea anemones which protect them from larger fish.

The sea anemone uses the feces from the clownfish as fertilizer to help it grow.

Egyptian Plover and Crocodile

Egyptian plover eats the leftover food stuck between the crocodile’s teeth. A good meal!

The crocodile gets it’s teeth cleaned.

Lion and Zebra Lions hunt zebras.

Once they have killed one, often times zebras will continue to graze (eat grass) right next to the lions who are eating their friend. They know that the lions won’t kill more than they can eat.

Water Buffalo an Cattle Egrets

Cattle Egrets perch on top of water buffalo. As the water buffalo walks, it stirs up the mud and causes insects to come to the surface that the egret can eat.

Tapeworm and Humans

Tapeworms attach to your intestines and suck out all of your food. If you have a tapeworm, you have to eat much more food to get enough nutrients to stay healthy.

Before modern medicine, people would get rid of tapeworms by placing a piece of meat in the front of the mouth. The tapeoworm would smell the meat and climb up your throat and could be pulled out of the mouth. They can get to be 20 meters long!

Lions/Tigers and Jackals

Jackals follow around lions or tigers and wait for them to make a kill. When the lion has eaten all it can eat, the jackal finishes off the carcass.

The jackal doesn’t have to hunt it’s own meal, and the lion or tiger could care less.

Bedbugs and Humans

Bedbugs live in mattresses and clothing and suck blood for food. They can live up to 350 days without a meal and are very hard to get rid of.

The US is in the middle of the biggest bedbug infestation in years.

Ladybug and Aphid

Aphids are a common pest in gardens and can destroy plants.

Ladybugs are loved by gardeners because they kill aphids by the hundreds.

Trees and Spanish Moss

Spanish moss hangs from trees. It doesn’t help or hurt the tree in any way.

The Cuckoo and other birds

The cuckoo is a nest stealer. It waits until another bird has made its nest and then moves in.

The other bird has no choice but to build another nest.

Lichen (algae and fungi)

Lichen is a combination of algae and fungi living in perfect harmony.

The algae photosynthesizes and creates food for the fungi. The fungi soaks up water and provides it for the algae.

Together, they are able to live on rocks!

Humans and Dogs

Dogs were first domesticated by humans about 15,000 years ago. At first, dogs lived off the scraps of meat humans didn’t need.

Eventually, they began to be used as watch dogs, sheep dogs, and even as hunters.

So, what are these called?

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/23490-the-web-of-life-symbiosis-video.htm

• Symbiosis is a close and permanent relationship between two organisms.

• Symbiosis means living together. There are three kinds of symbiosis: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

Symbiosis

• Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit.

This little fish is

helping me by cleaning my teeth!!!

Yeah!!!

I’m eating the big fish’s food

so he’s helping me too! Yeah!!!

Mutualism

Commensalism is a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither harmed nor benefited.

In this picture, Spanish moss isgrowing on the trees. The moss benefits because it has a place

to live, and the tree doesn’t care.

Commensalism

Some interactions are harmful to one species, yet beneficial to another.

Parasitism is a symbiotic relationship in which a member of one species benefits and the other species is harmed is called parasitism.

Parasitism

Predation is when one animal eats another animal. It is not a type of symbiosis, but it is an interaction between organisms.

A predator is a type of consumer. Predators seek out and eat other organisms. The organisms the predators eat are called prey.

Predator

Prey

Predation

• Predation is found in all ecosystems and includes organisms that eat plants and animals.• The animals that predators eat are called prey.

Relationship Organism 1 Organism 2

Mutualism + +

Commensalism + 0

Parasitism + - (animal lives…at least for a while)

Predation + - (animal dies)

Now, go back and label all of the community

relationships we talked about

Why are these relationships important?

1. The more community relationships there are, the stronger the community!

Each of these relationships represents a pathway for energy to take through an ecosystem. The more pathways there are, the more energy can be captured and made to flow through the ecosystem.

A tropical rainforest has so many organisms interacting with each other, that hardly any energy goes to waste!

Why are these relationships important?

2. Community relationships help maintain balance in an ecosystem.

In the 1970’s wolves were killed off in Yellowstone. As a result, the number of deer and rabbits SKYROCKETED. There were so many deer that the grass in the National Park disappeared. This was bad not only for the deer, but for all the animals that relied on the grass for food. There was even a decrease in the number of bald eagles and other Birds of Prey. All because the wolves were eliminated!

In short, even relationships that are bad for individual organisms (like parasites) are good for the health of the ecosystem because they keep it in balance

Why are these relationships important?

3. They help maintain BIODIVERSITY—a large variety of organisms in a ecosystem.

Ecosystems with more biodiversity are less likely to be wiped out by changes in the environment or new species.

For example, imagine an ecosystem with only one kind of producer. If that producer were killed by a new kind of fungus, the whole ecosystem would fail. On the other hand, if there were 50 different kinds of producers, no single fungus (or drought, new species, etc) could wipe them all out.

More on BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity is also important because many helpful drugs,

medicines, and scientific discoveries have been found in living things. Taxol: a strong anti-cancer drug comes from a the Pacific Yew (a bush) Rosy Periwinkle is a source for a possible cure to leukemia Willow Bark was the original source of aspirin Maybe the cure to HIV or cancer will be found in a rare species in the

rainforest?

Biodiversity supplies humans with a diverse diet. Right now, many marine species are being threatened by a lack of biodiversity. It is possible that we may see the end of Tuna in our lifetimes!

Biodiversity makes are rainforests stronger. Rainforests are the source of most of the Oxygen we breathe!

Finally, biodiversity is more enjoyable! It is more pleasant to be in places that have more biodiversity

Forestry Technician

Work outdoors to help maintain, protect, and develop forests by planting trees, fighting insects and diseases that attack trees and controlling soil erosion.

Help to manage biomes by analyzing data, planting trees, and managing fires when necessary. Forestry technicians directly contibute to people’s enjoyment of of the outdoors and help keep our forests alive and well.

Education: 2-4 year college degree in forestry, wildlife, or conservation.

Try getting summer work in a state or national park (plenty in Colorado).

A forestry technician needs knowledge of the outdoors, communication skills for working with the public, keen observational skills, and physical fitness for walking long distances through forests.

Forestry technicians make about 43,ooo dollars a year, and often get a season off!

Exit Slip 1: A flea jumps on a dog and sucks its blood for food.

2: A fungi connects trees underground. The fungi soaks up sugars from the tree roots, but also helps the tree roots absorb more nutrients from the soil.

3: A lonely woman takes care of a cat she found on the street and feeds it. The cat keeps the woman company and makes her happier.

4: The two-toned Wasp lays its eggs on live caterpillars so that when the eggs hatch, the young wasps have ready nutrition. When the Wasps grow to adulthood, they eat their way out of the killed caterpillar.

5: Ants protect certain aphids and bring them to their food source at appropriate times in their life cycles. The aphids secrete a sweet substance called “honeydew” that the ants collect and eat.