Symbiotic Relationships

 When it comes to relationships, I promise I am no expert considering I have been single for the entirety of my 18 years that I have walked this planet. But luckily, I do not have to be expert in romantic relationships to tell you about symbiotic relationships. What exactly is a symbiotic relationship you might ask? It is not the puppy love that you had with that guy you saw in the hallway who did not even know you existed let alone your name. A symbiotic relationship is “defined as a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species (Brusowankin, 2022). To simplify that definition, it is the relationship between or ongoing interaction between organisms of varied species. But just as humans have many layers when it comes to the relationships we partake in, so do symbiotic relationships.   

  

There are many different forms of symbiotic relationships including: mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Each of these kinds of relationships affect the parties involved differently. In mutualism according to the Natural History Museum, “... a type of symbiotic relationship where all species involved benefit from their interactions.” An example of this would be the relationship between oxpeckers and mammals like rhinos or zebras. This is an example of a mutualistic relationship because the oxpeckers are benefiting by being fed and the large mammals are benefiting by getting their parasites taken off them. Commensalism is the second symbiotic relationship. Commensalism is a relationship between two kinds or organisms in which one obtains food or other benefits from the other without damaging or benefiting it (Webster, 2024). Tree frogs and plants are an example of this because the tree frog is benefiting from the plants by obtaining a place to hide whereas the plants are neither being helped nor harmed by the tree frog. The third symbiotic relationship is parasitism. This is a relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of the other. A tick on a dog is a fitting example of a parasitic relationship because it benefits because it is being fed from the blood it withdraws while the dog becomes ill. While these are the basic 3 that many are taught in their younger years of school there still are a couple more types of symbiotic relationships.  

The last two symbiotic relationships we are going to talk about are competition and predation. Now I had said before that I am not an expert when it comes to relationships but competition on the other hand is something I am very familiar with. Just ask my professor about test review days when you would think our Kahoot game what the national championship or something. Competition is the interaction between organisms, populations, or species, in which birth, growth, and death depend on gaining a share of limited environmental resources. An example of this could be large predators that eat the same prey fighting over a limited amount within their environment. Finally, predation is when one species survives by consuming another. This can be seen in wolves hunting moose or owls hunting mice.

So now you see, relationships are important not just for people but also within nature. (They're also just as complicated in nature as they are to us humans, haha.)

Work Cited

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Commensalism. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved November 30,         2024, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commensalism

Mutualism: Eight examples of species that work together to get ahead. Natural History Museum. (n.d.). https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/mutualism-examples-of-species-that-work-together.html 

Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). What is symbiosis? meaning, 3 types & examples. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/articles/what-is-symbiosis