Ch.
5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Section 2: Interactions In Communities
• How do predator-prey interactions influence both
predators and prey?
• How are plants protected from herbivores?
• How does symbiosis work?
• What are examples of all these relationship?
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
1) Predator-Prey Interactions
• Predation --- one organism killing another for food.
• The predator is often bigger or more powerful
• The prey population is larger than the predator
population
• The predator population usually follows the prey
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
1) Predator-Prey Interactions (cont.)
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Predator-Prey Interactions, cont.
See Visual Concept 60350: PREDATION
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
2) Herbivory
• Herbivores are animals that eat plants.
• Unlike predators, herbivores do not often kill the plants.
But plants do try to defend themselves.
• Plants defend themselves from herbivores with thorns
and spines or with bad tasting chemical compounds.
These chemical compounds may even cause sickness or
death.
• See Visual Concept 60352: HERBIVORY
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
3) Other Interactions: Symbiosis
• Not all interactions between organisms result in a winner
and a loser.
• Symbiosis -- two species live in close association with each
other. One species benefits, and the other might or might not
benefit
• Three types of symbiosis:
1) Parasitism
2) Mutualism
3) Commensalism
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
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Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Parasitism
• In parasitism, a parasite feeds on a host.
• The host is almost always larger than the parasite, and is
usually harmed but not intentionally killed.
• Parasites often live on or in their host. Therefore, the
parasite gets both food and a place to live.
• Examples: fleas, tapeworms, mosquitoes, ticks, leeches
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Parasites, continued
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Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Parasites, continued
• Hosts try to keep parasites from infecting them --
immune systems, scratching, tail swatting.
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Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Mutualism: BOTH species benefit
Egrets on large mammals Cleaner fish
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Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Egrets on large mamals Cleaner fish
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Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Commensalism
• one species is helped,
but the other is neutral.
– Orchids on forest
trees to reach the sun
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Commensalism, cont.
Monarch caterpillar is
immune to milkweed
poison -- absorbs it
and becomes
poisonous to butterfly
predators
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Milkweed is neither
helped, nor harmed
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Summary
1. Predators kill prey for food; populations are related
2. Herbivores eat plants, but plants can defend through thorns, taste, or toxins
3. Symbiosis is close connection between two species; at least one benefits
Relationship Species A Species B
Parasitism Helps Hurts
Mutualism Helps Helps
Commensalism Helps Neutral
Ch. 5, Sec 2: Interactions in Communities p109-111
Vocabulary List
• Predation (predator, prey)
• Herbivory
• Symbiosis
• Parasitism (parasite, host)
• Mutualism
• Commensalism