Introduction
Symbiosis is common in nature because different species interact with each other. However, while some interaction benefits all participants, others bring benefits only to one side and can harm another. For this reason, scientists distinguish between three types of symbiosis that exist in nature, such as mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. In this presentation, examples of all three types of symbiosis will be considered to understand their features and differences. These types of interactions are easy to find in nature, although many people do not think about them or do not distinguish them in the natural environment due to a lack of knowledge about certain species.
Main body
One of the most famous examples of mutualism is the interactions of bees and flowers. Bees collect pollen from one flower and transfer it to other flowers on their legs or body, thereby ensuring its reproduction. At the same time, they receive nectar, which serves as a source of food for them. Besides, nectar supports the functioning of the glands that produce wax and honey, which are the building material of bee for hives. However, this mutualism’s disadvantage is that some flowers depend on the bees and cannot reproduce without their participation. For example, bird’s foot trefoil and lipped flowers have complicated structure so only bees can get to the nectar and pollen (Reynandez, n.d.). Consequently, with a decrease in the number of bees, these flowers can disappear due to their inability to reproduce.
The Gila woodpecker is a medium-sized bird that lives in the US and Mexico deserts. At first glance, it may seem that the Gila woodpecker is a parasite as it pecks holes in cacti and uses them for shelter. However, these holes practically do not harm the plants and do not drain their nutrients. At the same time, an example of commensalism, in this case, is that after a Gila woodpecker leaves its shelter, other small mammals and birds, such as owls, use them. In this way, the animals benefit themselves, but do no harm or influence Gila woodpeckers or the cacti in which they live.
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows on tree branches and takes water and nutrients from its host. The main feature of mistletoe is that it does not need soil to live as it spreads measles in the branches of trees, and it is easy to find it by the big deciduous balls in the crown of trees. Mistletoe multiplies and spreads because birds feed on its berries and carry seeds that can penetrate the bark (Glen, 2016). Consequently, the more mistletoe “balls” on the tree, the less chance the tree has to survive, especially in dry climates. However, if mistletoe has not spread in large numbers, it can live on the host for years.
The mutualism of a maroon clownfish and a bubble-tip anemone is the first example in the video about a coral reef. Anemones and clownfish are beneficial to each other, since anemones receive food from the waste of fishes, cleaning, and protection from other animals, such as butterflyfish. Simultaneously, clownfish use anemones as a hiding and nesting place because their body is covered with a thick layer of mucus, which makes them invulnerable from anemone’s stinging tentacles (Roux et al., 2019). However, other predatory fish do not have this defense mechanism, so they cannot reach clownfishes. The only drawback is that the clownfish population depends on the number of anemones, so their decrease due to heating of the water threatens clownfishes’ existence.
Another example of mutualism is the interaction between white reef sharks and blue streak wrasses. Their relationships are based on the fact that wrasses cleanse shark of skin particles, shells, and sometimes small parasites, which contributes to their health and comfort (California Academy of Sciences, 2016). At the same time, wrasses feed on bits of dead skin that they take away from a shark, and remain protected next to such a dangerous predator. However, a blue streak wrasse provides its cleaning “services” to other larger and smaller fish, and a white reef shark can interact with other cleaning fish; thus, everyone benefits from this interaction.
One can note that presented interactions influence patterns of distribution and abundance within the ecosystem. Firstly, the scientists in the video demonstrate that most often, clownfishes live in pairs in an anemone, and without shelter and protection, they become victims of predators quickly (California Academy of Sciences, 2016). Therefore, this example demonstrates the clownfish distribution pattern depending on the number of anemones. The second example of cleaning fishes shows that their interaction with other fish keeps the coral reef clean and healthy because they absorb all natural waste. Consequently, this kind of mutualism affects the entire reef ecosystem. In addition, these examples are only part of the interactions, while other types of relationships between animals have different effects on the ecosystem.
Saber tooth blenny is an example of a parasite of the animal kingdom that is also present in the coral reef fauna. The peculiarity of saber tooth blenny is that it is very similar to cleaning fish in appearance and also imitates their movements or “dance” to get close to whale sharks (“Blenny Information,” 2018). However, instead of cleaning the host, these parasites bite it with their large teeth in relation to their size and float away (California Academy of Sciences, 2016). Thus, in this way, saber tooth blennies make wounds on the body of whale sharks or other fishes that become their victims and feed on them.
Another example of symbiosis, or rather its kind of commensalism, is the remora, which lives on a whale shark. In the video, one can see how it sucked on the bottom of the shark, but does not interfere with it and does no harm (California Academy of Sciences, 2016). Remora also lives on other large animals, which are both a means of transportation, protection, and a source of food for it. Remora’s suction disc allows it to stick on the host and stay there, even if the host jumps out of the water or moves quickly. Remora eats food that the host has rejected, so it does not bring any good or harm.
Conclusion
Therefore, these examples of symbiosis demonstrate that plants’ and animals’ interaction occurs in different ecosystems, both underwater and on land. Examples of parasitism of mistletoe and saber tooth blenny show that parasites’ damage can also differ depending on the type of parasite as mistletoe can kill a tree, while bennies only injure their hosts. The example of a Gila woodpecker also demonstrates that one animal’s actions can benefit one species but harm another. It is important to note that mutualism, which is beneficial to both sides, also has drawbacks as creatures become dependent on each other. Therefore, this presentation demonstrates that nature has a diversity of symbiotic relationships and they influence and shape the ecosystem in different ways.
References
Blenny Information (2018). Web.
California Academy of Sciences. (2016). Exploring ecosystems: Coral reef symbiosis | California Academy of Sciences [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Glen, C. (2016). Does Mistletoe Harm Trees? NC Cooperative Extension. Web.
Reynandez, R. (n.d.). Better together: Mutualistic relationships between plants and insects. Project Learning Tree. Web.
Roux, N., Lami, R., Salis, P., Magré, K., Romans, P., Masanet, P., Lecchini. D., & Laudet, V. Sea anemone and clownfish microbiota diversity and variation during the initial steps of symbiosis. Scientific Reports, 9(2019). Web.