Symbiosis Notes Review

There are 3 major types of symbiotic relationships.

Mutualism: Both organisms benefit Commensalism: one organism

benefits and the other is unharmed.– Ex: Human eyelash and the demodicids,

which are tiny mites that feast on oils and dead skin. Humans provide them with a place to live.

Parasitism: One organism benefits and the other is harmed.– Ex: The hornworm caterpillar and the

Braconid wasp. The caterpillar is the host, and as the wasp larva consume the larva are the parasite.

– Ex: The leech obtaining its nutrients from a human (host).

– Ex: The hookworm obtaining its nutrients from a human intestine (host).

1cI am a barnacle. Barnacles are crustaceans, as an adult I am sedentary, that means that I just sit around. The babies start as larvae and they find a good surface and then undergo a metamorphosis to the sedentary form. One good place they find is the skin of a whale. All barnacles benefit by finding a habitat where nutrients are available. When we attach ourselves to a living organism, that organism takes us to new sources of food. Just because we sit around doesn’t mean that we hamper or enhance the survival of any of the organisms that carry us. What is our ism?

1bI am clown fish and I live among the tentacles of sea anemones. The sea anemones can exist without me, but the larger fishes avoid the poisonous tentacles of the sea anemones so I am protected. I cannot exist as successfully without this protective cover. The good is that the anemone wants to keep me around because I attract other fishes on which it can feed. The sea anemone's tentacles quickly paralyze and seize other fishes as preyWhat is our ism?

1aI am a Dodder and I am found twined round the stems of clover plants or grasses. I consist of a long slender yellow or pinkish stem, with the leaves reduced to tiny scales, and roots being absent except for a short time after germination. I penetrate vascular bundles of the plant I live on and I obtain organic nutrients, water, and mineral salts directly from them. I can cause a great deal of damage to wheat or lucerne fields.What is our ism?

Station #1 – What is our ism?

2cI am a flatworm, I posses suckers with which I attach myself to the walls of blood vessels. I am covered with thick cuticles. When I mature, I meet up with another adult male. Since I am a female I move into small blood vessels in the wall of the bladder and lay my eggs there. When the egg comes into contact with the water, its shell breaks and my larva, is released. My babies make their way into the water and make contact with a human. There it comes into the blood stream and move in. Within six to twelve weeks the larvae develop into adults and the cycle is reported once more.What is our ism?

2bI am a Remora shark and I have an adhesive disk on the dorsal surface of my heads. With this adhesive disk I hook on to “hitch a ride” on larger animals, usually whales, which tend to be sloppy eaters. When food floats away from the whale’s mouth, I can unhitch myself and collect the scraps of food floating by. The whales don’t care when I hook on because it doesn’t hurt them at all, they never even know I’m there. What is our ism?

2aI am an insect and I go to flowers to get sweet nectar, while I’m there I take with me the necessary material to pollinate another flower so that they can reproduce. What is our ism?

Station #2 – What is our ism?

3cI am a coral and I live in a reef along with the dinoflagellates that live within my polyps. I sweep organic material from the water and I metabolize this material forming carbon dioxide and nitrogenous wastes. The dinoflagellates that live in my polyps use the carbon dioxide and nitrogenous wastes in photosynthesis to form oxygen and sugars that are in turn used by the by both of us. Together we cycle and exchange nutrients, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.What is our ism?

3bI am an orchid; I have a long stem with a beautiful flower at the tip. You can find me in tropical areas, with plenty of water attached to a tree. I benefit from the environment provided by these trees, while the trees do not appear to be helped or harmed. What is our ism?

3aI am a louse and I deposit my eggs in the heads of humans where they grow and take the nutrients they need. I do nothing for the human other than make their head itch.What is our ism?

Station #3 – What is our ism?

4cI am Lichen and I look like a plant, but I am essentially a sandwich with a layer of fungi on the outside with a filling of an algal species on the inside. The fungus part of me attaches me to the log, rock, or brick wall that I live on and it absorbs nutrients from the environment. The algae part of me uses the nutrients absorbed by the fungus part and the carbon dioxide produced to photosynthesize. What is our ism?

4bI am an egret, a bird that lives near grazing cattle. I benefit from living with the cattle, because the cattle disrupt insects in the grasses, and provide me with a readily available food source. There seems to be no cost or benefit to the cattle from our relationshipWhat is our ism?

4aI live in a deciduous forest and I eat the bark of trees, I am a termite. I have a great source of food in the trees and I do nothing good for them. I only make them week and as a result they fallWhat is our ism?

Station #4 – What is our ism?

5cI am a marine species called a pilot fish; I usually swim just in front of sharks. When the shark feeds, I just pick up the scraps. So far scientists say that there does not appear to be any effect, either positive or negative, to the shark. What is our ism?

5bI am a fungus and I help the tree that I live on to absorb water from the soil, I also increase the stability of the root system, and protect the roots from drying. In return the tree provides sugars and starches that I use in my metabolism.What is our ism?

5aI am a flea and I feed on the blood of a cat, because of the loss of this blood the cat is harmed but, I really don’t careWhat is our ism?

Station #5 – What is our ism?

6cI am a bacterium within your digestive system and I benefit from the food that you eat. I am obedient and stay where I am supposed to stay in your body; I never go to an area where I can cause you to have a problem. What is our ism?

6bI am mistletoe and I work my way into trees and I like to spread out over an area pretty soon I take over the tree.What is our ism?

6aI am a species of ant that uses the excess plant sap that an aphid makes for my nutrition. I go around and find a colony of aphids and milk the waste plant sap from their cornicles. In return I protect the aphids from predators and parasites. In some cases I tend the aphid colony almost like a rancher with their cattle, not only by protecting them, but moving them around from plant to plantWhat is our ism?

Station #6 – What is our ism?

7cI am a very brave bird that is well known for preying on parasites that feed on crocodiles. Because this feels good, the crocodile openly invites me to hunt on its body, even going so far as to open its jaws to allow me to enter the mouth safely to hunt the leeches from its gums. This relationship gives me a source of food, and keeps me safe considering that only a few predator species would dare strike at the bird at such close proximity to a croc.What is our ism?

7bI am an artic fox and I follow caribou around all day long. The caribou is bigger than I am and he removes the snow covering to get at lichens under the soil. When he does that he makes it easy for me to hunt the subnivean mammals that have been unearthed by him.What is our ism?

7aI am a bacterium within your digestive system and I benefit from the food that you eat. I don’t like to follow the rules, so I don’t stay where I’m supposed to and I go into the wrong parts of your bodyWhat is our ism?

Station #7 – What is our ism?

For each cartoon, explain in your own words how you think this relates to the

topic of Ecology we are studying.