Species Interactions

It ought to be obvious by now that none of the plants or animals that call the Amazon basin their home exists alone, in a vacuum. A marvelous, complex web of interactions exists. Ecologists recognize six major types of species interactions: neutralism, mutualism, competition, predation, inhibition, and commensalism.

eutralism is where two species have no interaction at all! a pin" dolphin and a canopy lizard could be an example of neutralism. #o learn more of the other five dynamic interactions, use the lin"s provided here.

Predation
$redation occurs when one organism feeds on another. #hus, one organism benefits through receiving nutrition and there is no benefit to the host or prey. In many cases, predation results in the "illing of the prey. $redators can be the large carnivore or herbivore animals we normally thin" of or parasites and pathogens. $redation in the rainforest can be thought of as a tropical selection pressure. ormally one thin"s of predation as resulting in the loss of numbers of the prey species, however the predation hypothesis of diversity suggests that predation may actually maintain species diversity. %or instance if there are four species of caterpillars feeding on the same plant, and one species for whatever reason is out&competing the others, it would receive the most nutrition from the plant, and therefore the numbers of the other three species would dwindle. ow, along comes the caterpillars' predator, a particular bird that feeds on all four species of the caterpillars. It is probable that the bird is more li"ely to eat the species of caterpillar that is most abundant, not for taste, but simply by statistical chance, thereby providing the dwindling caterpillars a chance to recover. est predation occurs fre(uently in the rainforest. ests are the target of such predators as birds, sna"es, mon"eys, cats, and even army ants. #o combat predators from seizing the contents of a nest, birds that inhabit the rainforest have developed several adaptations. %emale birds tend to ma"e less fre(uent trips to a nest to feed young birds to bring less attention to the nest. #ropical bird species also lay fewer eggs than temperate species! as tending a larger brood would attract more attention. $arasitism is a specific form of predation. It occurs between two species, where one species )the parasite* benefits by its interaction with the other species )the host*! typically, however, the host is not "illed by the interaction. #he parasite may live in or on the host and the host provides nutrients and shelter for the parasitic organism. In some cases if a host is malnourished or wea"ened in any way, the parasite may "ill the host! in other instances when a host is healthy, the parasite may have little affect. +otflies, discussed in the section on insects, are an example of

a parasite. +esides human hosts, they also infest bird species, and other animals in the forest. ,os(uitoes and tapeworms are other examples of parasitic life forms. #he strangler fig ) Ficus crassiuscula* is an example of parasitism in the plant world. #he strangler fig begins as a seed dropped by a bird or mon"ey into the tree canopy among the epiphytes! the seed sprouts and tendrils grow downward and around the host tree. %inally the tendrils reach the ground where they grow their own root system. As the strangler fig continues to grow around the host tree, the host often dies either as a result of the fig strangling it or from lac" of sun as the strangler fig shades the host tree. #he parasitic tree then consumes the nutrients of its decaying host.

Mutualism
,utualism is a type of symbiotic relationship where two species of organisms live together and benefit from the interaction. ,any of these relationships exist in the rainforest! several will be discussed here. %or example all orchids depend on fungi called mycorrhizae at some point during their life cycle. #he fungi grow partly on the root and aid the plant in the upta"e of nutrients. #he fungi benefit as they ingest some of the food from plant photosynthesis. Another example of mutualism is between the fruit of some plants and fruit eating birds. #he fruit provides nutrition for the bird and in return the bird disperses the seeds of the plant as the fruit, loaded with seeds passes through the bird's digestive system. #here is even a relationship between a certain species of nectar eating mite that depends on the mutualistic relationship between plants and hummingbirds. #he mites are transported to each flower in the nasal cavity of the hummingbird.ne of the most often cited examples of mutualism is the protozoa that live in the gut of termites. /ithout these protozoa, the termite would be unable to digest the cellulose and other large molecules in wood. #he protozoa in return are provided with food, shelter and a means of transportation for dispersal. 0eaf cutter ants provide another example of this mutually beneficial relationship. As the leaf cutter ants bring the leafs bac" to their den, ants chew the leaves into a paste, they release a drop or two of fecal matter into the paste, a fungus grows on this mass, and the fungus is the sole food of the ants.

Competition
1ompetition within an ecosystem occurs when more than one species is see"ing the same limited resource. 2ome scientists believe it is this idea of competition that is responsible for the high degree of species diversity in relatively small areas within the rainforest ecosystem. Along this same line, competition may have also caused specialization. %or instance similar species have elicited slight differences in foraging areas. In one study it was shown that four ant bird species of the same genus foraged at different heights above the ground with relatively little overlap. 2pecialization has enabled certain species to adapt to a particular ecological niche, that is to say they alone have developed through evolutionary stresses to be the most adept at living in a particular niche. 1ompetition for pollinators is evident among flowering plants. %or example, 34 species of one shrub have developed staggered flowering times, where only a couple of the species may be flowering at one time thus ensuring a better chance that pollinators and fruit eating birds will be attracted to only the few shrubs that are flowering during a particular month.

.ther major driving forces in the rainforest include competition for sunlight and competition for nutrients. +ut of all the forces at wor" relating to competition, it now appears that competition for resources by humans may be the most profound example of competition at wor" within the rainforest.