Title: Interactions in Ecosystems

1. Habitat and Niche. Define both and give two examples for each one. Niche: They focused on the answer to the following questions: How the organisms behave in the places where they belong How organisms react to their environment How an organism makes a living in the place it belongs E.g.: The niche of the wolves in Alaska is to control the caribou population, but the governor up there thinks that's her job. It is the food, the temperature, the weather, etc. Habitat: They focused on the answer to the following questions: The places where each organism belongs. How their environment affects them. Where the organisms live E.g.: river, ocean, lake, a tree, etc.

2. What is competitive exclusion? Write one example. When two species are competing for the same resources, one species will be better suited to the niche, and the other species will be pushed into another niche or become extinct. Example: two barnacle species, Balanus and Chthamalus, can coexist because they differ in two traits: growth rate and vulnerability to desiccation. Balanuss growth is rapid, which allows it to smother and crush the slower-growing Chthamalus. Balanus, however, dies close to shore because it gets too dry during low tide. In contrast, Chthamalus tolerates these dry conditions. Consequently, even though Balanus is a better competitor for space, these barnacles coexist because Chthamalus can survive in areas that Balanus cannot survive. 3. Build a graphic organizer with the following information: -Inter specific relationships. (Mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, ammensalism, neutralism) MUTUALISM: both the host species and the dependent species is benefited. EG: Many ants are found in the vicinity of aphids. The ants feed on the sugary fluid released by the aphids, and the aphids are protected by the ants

Ants

Aphids

PARASITISM: the parasite gains benefit at the expense of the host organism. It could be inside or outside. EG: Mosquito: Females ingest blood for the protein. Male mosquitos ingest plant juices.

COMMENSALISM: one species takes advantage of the other without affecting it. E.g.: clown fishes live within the waving mass of tentacles of sea anemones; because most fishes avoid the poisonous tentacles, the clownfishes are protected from predators.

Sea anemone

Clownfish

AMMENSALISM: one species hurts another, but does not benefit from this interaction. Algal blooms can lead to the death of many species of fish, however the algae do not benefit from the deaths of these individuals.

NEUTRALISM: both the species remain unaffected. The species may be living side by side but are unaware of each other and also cause no harm to each other. EG: The interaction between rainbow trout and dandelions living in a mountain valley.

Rainbow trout

Dandelion

4. What is the difference between endoparasites and extoparasites? Endoparasites are those parasites which live inside the body of the host and take up the food that the host eats. Example: Tape-worms, bilharzia and the malaria parasite are examples of endoparasites. Examples: Extoparasites are those parasites which live outside the body of the host and as they live outside they take up the nutrition from outside the body of the host. Example: Lice, flea, ticks, etc. are examples of extoparasites. 5. What is the difference between competition and predation? Competition is the process by which two organisms from the same species or different ones fight from the same limited resources. Predation is the process by which one organism captures and feeds upon another organism.