Biology essay – Relationships and interactions
There are many different types of relationships and interactions between organisms. Every organism is in some way connected or associated with another. Some organisms need to depend on other organisms to survive which shows how important some of these relationships or interactions can be in biology. Interaction is a vital part of how many organisms develop over time.
Predation is a main example of a relationship between organisms. Predation involves predators and prey, such as a fox catching and eating a rabbit. There are two other forms of predation called, parasitism and grazing. Parasitism is where the host organism is exploited and used for benefit by the other organism called a parasite. An example of parasitism is fleas which live on the skin of other animals and feed on their blood which helps the flea but only weakens the animal. Grazing is where the predator eats the prey but does not kill it, for example a cow eating grass. Predators play an important role in an ecosystem for if they did not exist then a single species could become dominant over others. Grazing is important as it helps to keep grassland from growing out of control. If predation in a certain ecosystem were to be effected then it would change the balance of the whole ecosystem. For example if wolves were removed from a forest ecosystem then there would be much more rabbits and deer around. This huge population of rabbits and deer would significantly decrease the amount of plants in the ecosystem which could lead to no food for the deer and rabbits.
Mutualism is a type of symbiotic relationship and is another way in which organisms interact. Mutualism involves both organisms gaining from each other and so they both help each other to survive. A common example of a mutualistic relationship is the bee and the flower. Bees gather nectar from