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6: Species Interactions

  • Page ID
    167479
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    • 6.1: Predation and Herbivory
    • 6.2: Parasitism
    • 6.3: Competition
      Competition occurs between organisms on the same trophic level that share resources. When two species have the same role in a community, competitive exclusion will occur, resulting in the local extinction of one species.
    • 6.4: Facilitation
      Commensalism occurs when one species benefits, and the other is unharmed. In contrast, both species in a mutualism benefit.
    • 6.5: Symbiosis
      There are many cases in which two species live in close association for long periods. Such associations are called symbiotic. In symbiosis, at least one member of the pair benefits from the relationship. The other member may be injured (parasitism), relatively unaffected (commensalism) or may also benefit (mutualism).
    • 6.6: Behavioral Biology - Proximate and Ultimate Causes of Behavior
      One goal of behavioral biology is to dissect out the innate behaviors, which have a strong genetic component and are largely independent of environmental influences, from the learned behaviors, which result from environmental conditioning. Innate behavior, or instinct, is important because there is no risk of an incorrect behavior being learned. They are “hard wired” into the system. On the other hand, learned behaviors, although riskier, are flexible, dynamic, and can be altered.


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