BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION LECTURE DELIVERED

BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION

LECTURE DELIVERED BY: ODUNSI DAVID A. BIOLOGY SECTION EXCELLENCE TUTORIAL COLLEGE, LAGOS NIGERIA.

WHAT ARE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS? Biological associations are relationships or interactions among living organisms. � No living organism can exist as an isolated entity, so therefore a living organism A goes into a relationship with another living organism B voluntarily or involuntarily. For instance female Anopheles mosquito goes into relationship with Humans voluntarily while Humans goes into the relationship involuntarily. � It must also be noted that these associations could be beneficial, harmful or even neutral. For instance the association between a Butterfly perching on a Hibiscus plant is beneficial to both of them. In this case the Butterfly gets food in form of sugary juice called nectar while it help pollinate the flowering plant by picking up pollen grains unconsciously. When you go ahead to consider the one of Human and Hookworm ( a dangerous Nematode found in the small intestine that sucks blood excessively) , you would see that it is beneficial to Hookworm but harmful to Humans. �

TYPES OF ASSOCIATIONS �MUTALISM �COMMENSALISM �PARASITISM �PREDATION

WHAT IS MUTUALISM? �Mutalism is an association between two different organisms, in which both of them benefit. For instance if an organism A goes into an association with another organism B, and both of them derive benefit from this association, then it is termed ‘’ MUTUALISM’’.

LETS SEE SOME COMMON EXAMPLES �Alga and Fungus �Leguminous plant and Bacterium �Termite and Trichonympha ( a Protozoon) �Ruminant animal and Escherichia (a Bacterium) �Butterfly and Hibiscus plant

OK…… Lets move on

WHAT IS COMMENSALISM? �Commensalism is an association between two different organisms in which only one organism benefits while the other is neither harmed nor benefits. For instance an organism A goes into an association with another organism B, and organism A derive benefits while organism B does not derive benefits and neither is it harmed, then it is termed “COMMENSALISM”.

CAN WE GO AHEAD TO LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES? YES OF COURSE

EXAMPLES �Humans and Bacteria( e. g Bacteriodes succinogenes) in the large intestine �Shark and Remora fish �Oyster and crab

NOW LETS MOVE ON TO PARASITISM �Parasitism is an association between two different organism in which one of them benefits while the other is harmed. The organism that benefits is called the PARASITE while the one that is harmed is called the HOST.

LETS SEE SOME EXAMPLES �Human and Tapeworm �Human and Roundworm �Flowering plant and Mistletoe �Human and female Anopheles mosquito

NOW LETS LOOK AT PREDATION �Predation is association between two different organisms, in which one called the PREDATOR attacks and devours the other called the PREY. Have you ever seen a documentary where a Lion preys on an Antelope before, I bet you have.

LETS SEE SOME EXAMPLES �Lion and Antelope �Hawk and chicks of domestic Hen �Kingfisher( a Bird) and Tilapia fish �Rattle snake and Rat

Now lets talk about competition I bet you have been involved in one competition or the other before. Maybe a Football competition, or a singing competition or even a thug of war competition

COMPETITION �INTRA-SPECIFIC COMPETITION �INTER-SPECIFIC COMPETITION

WHAT IS COMPETITION? WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT COULD BRING ABOUT COMPETITION? �LETS ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS TOGETHER, SHALL WE?

COMPETITION �Competition refers to an interaction among organisms for limited environmental resources. It could exists in different forms and for different reasons.

STILL TALKING ABOUT COMPETITION �There could be competition among only organisms of the same species, and this is termed INTRA-SPECIFIC COMPETITION. For instance competition among Humans for limited food supply. In this case we see that Humans belong to a single species Homo sapiens. The word INTRA means within while SPECIFIC means species. That is INTRA – SPECIFIC COMPETITION is competition within a single species.

OTHER COMMON EXAMPLES �Competition for grains among domestic chicks �Competition for space among Maize plants �Competition for sunlight among Okra plants �Competition for water among Water leaf plants

IS THERE STILL ANOTHER TYPE OF COMPETITION? YES OF COURSE. �There could exists competition among organisms of different or several species, and this is termed INTER –SPECIFIC COMPETITION. It is important to note that SPECIFIC means and INTER means several. That is INTER- SPECIFIC COMPETITION means SEVERAL SPECIES COMPETITION.

LETS SEE SOME EXAMPLES �Competition between Tiger and Hyena for limited supply of antelopes �Competition between Toads and Frogs for limited supply of insects �Competition among Carpet grass and Elephant grass for limited water

LETS SEE FACTORS THAT BRING ABOUT COMPETITION �Limited supply of water �Limited supply of nutrients �Limited supply of sunlight �Limited supply of food �Limited growing space �Limited sex partners

ANYTHING CAN LEAD TO COMPETITION, IN AS MUCH IT IS IN LIMITED SUPPLY……………. . VERY IMPORTANT.

PLS FORWARD ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO david. odunsi. wordpress. com Thank you