1. Interactions within a Community
The five main types are:
Predation
Competition
Parasitism
Mutualism
Commensalism

2. PREDATION
In predation, one individual, the predator, captures, kills, and consumes another individual, the prey.

3. Predators, Prey, and Natural Selection
Natural Selection favors adaptations that improve a predator‘s efficiency at finding, capturing, and consuming prey.
These adaptations include a shark’s jaws, a scorpion’s claws and stinger, and a spider’s web and fangs

4. Prey-predation interaction

5. Graph interpretation
The cycles of increase and decrease reflects a predator –prey intercation
e.g lions feeding on impalas, lynx feeding on rabbits
Prey population reaches higher density than predator population
Portion A = geometric phase- rapid increas of prey, predator pop too low to hinder increase
More prey means more food for predators and the population increases
More predators = increase in mortality of prey
Less prey could cause predators to emigrate / die , hence prey population can increase again

6. Competition
Competition occurs when organisms in the same community seek the same limiting resource. This resource may be prey, water, light, nutrients, nest sites, etc.
Competition among members of the same species is intraspecific.
Competition among individuals of different species is interspecific.

7. Intraspecific Competition
Competition between organisms of the same species

8. Interspecific Competition
Panthera leo
Crocuta crocuta
Competition between organisms of the different species