Best Buddies A look at Symbiotic Relationships in an ecosystem.

Symbiotic-Relationships Every plant & critter needs energy to survive & thrive. Because of this, many inter-species relationships have been forged for the survival and purpose of accumulating this energy. In today’s lesson we will examine these ecological relationships and how they either benefit or harm one another.

Class Activities: Think/Share Pair:  Define what it means to be a buddy to someone else.  Define the 9 different eco-relationships. Best Buddies 30 Second Theater  Pass out a copy of each slide and form 5 groups.  These groups will develop a skit which will reflect ecosystem relationships as if it were a human relationship.

Symbiosis/ Symbiotic Relationships The living together of two dissimilar organisms and how they get their food.  Think in terms of benefit, harmed or killed. These can be categorized into 3 categories 1. Mutualism 2. Commensalism 3. Parasitism Other ecological relationships include: 1. Producer/ Consumer 2. Competition 3. Predator / Prey

30 Second Theater Produce a 30 second skit and take the Ecological relationship and convert it to a human relationship.  Think in terms of relationships where one of the two Benefit, harm, kill, or neither harmed or killed as they both seek resources/food etc.

Producer / Consumer Producer produces food Consumer eats the food

Competition Both species both compete and fight for the same space and food. Two types of predators competing for food Two Bugs competing for nectar in a flower

Predator / Prey One species benefits, the other DIES!

Parasitism One species benefits, the other is harmed but NOT killed. Mosquitoes sucking blood (and possibly transferring a disease) A parasitic wasp that laid her eggs on or in the spiny caterpillar's body. The parasitic wasp larvae ate most of their host, avoiding the vital organs, so that the caterpillar stayed alive.

Commensalism One species is benefited, the other neither benefits nor is harmed The fish gains protection and the anemone is neither harmed nor helped The barnacle benefits by finding a habitat where nutrients are available. The presence of barnacle populations does not appear to hamper or enhance the survival of the animals carrying them. Humpback whale

Mutualism Both Species Mutually Benefit from each other The caterpillars have nectar organs which the ants drink from. The ants provide protection for the caterpillar. The fungus gets food from the photosynthesizing algae and the algae gets a place to live.

Ecosystem Relationships type of interactionsigneffects Mutualism+/+ both species benefit from interaction Commensalism+/0 one species benefits, one unaffected Competition -/- each species affected negatively Predator/Prey, Parasitism, Producer/Consumer +/- one species benefits, one is disadvantaged

Class Activity Best Buddies  These next 12 slides are posted around the room.  Students will take their form and interpret the relationship based on what they see. Roles are what the organism does – as if it were an actor on the ecological screen. Relationships:  Producer/Consumer  Producer/Decomposer  Predator/Prey  Mutualism  Commensalism  Parasitism  Competition

Forest Mushroom Forests take in sunlight and produce food. Meanwhile the mushroom helps to break down dead stuff and recycle the material back into the forest ecosystem.

Grassland Elephant The savannahs of Africa are home to many elephants and other critters. They provide food, shelter and water that the elephants need to live and survive.

Elk Hunter During the months of October, many hunters help reduce the number of elk in the forest by hunting them and using their meat for food.

Leaves Grasshopper Grasshoppers have been known to devour whole crops. They eat most any vegetation.

Ant Aphid Aphids get their energy and nutrients from sucking on the sugar in the sap found in plants. But they don’t need all of the sugar they get from the sap and pass it on as honeydew. Ants collect the honeydew by tapping on their antenna and offer protection from predators.

Buffalo Cowbird (Eats insects stirred up by herds) Buffalo used to travel in herds across the plains, as they walked through the grass the insects would fly out of the grass and the cowbirds would eat them. The cowbirds would follow the buffalo, which helped them catch insects. This neither helped or hurt the buffalo.

Honey Guide (Eats Bee Larve) Honey Badger (Loves to eat honey) Honey guide birds exhibit a unique pattern by calling out loudly and chattering that attracts the badger's attention. Then flies ahead, toward the bees' nest, making sure the badger is following. On arrival, the badger tears open the bees' nest and feast on the bees' wax, honey, and larvae --making sure some are left over for its loyal referral--the honey guide bird.

Hermit Crab Needs a Home Snail Has a home – gets rid of it when he’s out grown it. A hermit crab lives in shells that are made and then abandoned by snails. This neither harms nor benefits the snail.

Deer Tick A tick feeds on deer blood to the detriment of the deer.

Cuckoo Warbler A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a warbler’s nest. The cuckoo’s young will displace the warbler’s young and will be raised by the warbler.

Ostrich Gazelle These two animals feed next to each other in the grasslands. Both watch for predators and alert each other to danger. The visual abilities of these two animals are different so they are able to identify threats the other animal would not see.

Remora Shark A remora attaches themselves to a shark’s body. They travel with the shark and feed on the left over food from the shark’s meals. This does not hurt or help the shark.