Symbiosis

SYMBIOSIS

by Anton Antonio

March 18, 2015

“Community is commonly defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.  Community is also a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, aspirations and goals.  This is how we would characterize community.  In ecology however, a community is an assemblage or associations of populations of two or more different species occupying the same contiguous geographical area and in a particular period of time.  The term community, in natural and environmental sciences, has a variety of applications.  In its simplest form, it refers to groups of organism in a temporal period and spatial area.”  (Antonio, 2015)  Communities can also be characterized as organized groups of organisms that interact with the same or different species and fulfilling different roles towards each other.  The interaction between organisms living together in close and mutual association or two or more dissimilar organisms typically to the benefit and advantage of both organisms is called symbiosis.

The operative characterization of the term symbiosis is interaction.  The most common types of interaction are:

1. COMPETITION – Competition in biology, ecology and sociology, is a contest between organisms, animals, individuals, groups, etc., for territory, a niche, or a location of resources, for resources and goods, mates, for prestige, recognition, awards, or group or social status, for leadership.  Intraspecific competition is competition among members of the same species while interspecific competition is competition between individuals or groups belonging to different species.
2. PREDATION – Predation is the act of killing and eating other animals or the act of preying on other animals.  In this type of interaction, the predator is the only one benefitted while the prey is adversely affected.
3. MUTUALISM – Mutualism is regarded as the most ideal relationship since interacting individuals or groups are benefitted and favoured.  Mutualism is the doctrine that states that mutual dependence is necessary to social well-being.
4. COMMENSALISM – In ecology, commensalism is a class of relationships between two organisms where one organism benefits from the other without affecting it.  Next to mutualism, commensalism is second most ideal form of interaction of organisms in an ecosystem.
5. AMENSALISM – Amensalism is a relationship between two species of organisms in which the individuals of one species adversely affect those of the other and are unaffected themselves.  Amensalism is often called antibiosis (meaning: a biological interaction between two or more organisms that is detrimental to at least one of them) or allelopathy (meaning: a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms).

The foregoing types of interaction between organisms generally characterize symbiosis.

Just my little thoughts…

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