Saturday, October 1, 2011

Plot Community

I found many different types of interactions on my plot.  These interactions included competition, predation, symbiosis—mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.
Listed below are examples of each interaction:

Competition:
  Maple Trees (Intraspecific) -The trees all try to get the most sunlight and soil nutrients to grow; sometimes small trees are crowded out and left with little sunlight and space which are needed in order to thrive
  Red-Tailed Hawks and Great Horned Owls- They compete for food and nesting grounds

Predation:
  Owl and Mouse- Owl eats the mouse
  Red Fox and Squirrel- Fox hunts the squirrel for food

Mutualism:
  Bees and Wild Flowers- The bees eat nectar from the flowers and the flowers are cross pollinated
  Ants and Plants- The ant eats the nectar and keeps away other insects that would eat the plant's leaves

Commensalism:
  Birds and Trees- Birds have a place to nest; tree is neither helped nor harmed
  Moss and Trees- Moss grow up trees to get sunlight; the tree is unaffected
 
Parasitism:
  Trees and Fungus- The fungus get nutrients; the tree is weakened and eventually decays and dies
  Raccoon and Tapeworm- The tapeworm gets food the raccoon eats; the raccoon looses nutrition and becomes sickly or dies

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