interdependance

interdependance

1. animals compete for food, water, shelter and mates.

   • plants compete for light, water and minerals

2. better adapted competitors will get most of the resources, so they can survive & produce offspring

3. the interdependence of organisms determines their distribution and abundance

4. predators are animals that kill and eat other animals.

   • animals that are eaten are prey

5. prey will always outnumber predators

6. there will be cyclical fluctuations in the number of each species because the number of predator and prey regulate each other

7. some organisms survive living off others

   • these are parasites
     • organism they live off is HOST organism

8. parasites can make the host ill or kill them

9. in mutualistic relationships both organisms form a relationship they both benefit from

   • e.g. oxpecker birds live on a buffalos back

10. oxpecker benefits by getting a ready supply of food from flies and ticks on buffalos skin

    • buffalo benefits by getting pests eating by the oxpeckers
      • birds hiss when predators approach

11. organisms performing this function, such as oxpecker birds are known as 'cleaner' species