What is mutually beneficial cohabitation of organisms called? Types of relationships between organisms. In what year was the term “ecology” introduced?

This term has other meanings, see Competition. Competition in biology, any antagonistic relationship associated with the struggle for existence, for dominance, for food, space and other resources between organisms or species ... Wikipedia

- (from the Latin mensa meal) a type of interspecific relationship in which one species, called amensal, undergoes inhibition of growth and development, and the second, called an inhibitor, is not subject to such tests. Antibiosis and... ... Wikipedia

- (from Lat. com “with”, “together” and mensa “table”, “meal”; literally “at the table”, “at the same table”; formerly communion) a way of coexistence (symbiosis) of two different types living organisms in which one population benefits... Wikipedia

- (from other Greek ἀντι against, βίος life) antagonistic relationships between species, when one organism limits the capabilities of another, the impossibility of coexistence of organisms, for example due to intoxication by some organisms (antibiotics, ... ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Symbiosis (meanings). Clown fish and sea ​​anemone organisms coexisting in mutualistic symbiosis ... Wikipedia

- (Late Lat. organismus from Late Lat. organizo arrange, give a slender appearance, from other Greek. ὄργανον tool) a living body that has a set of properties that distinguish it from inanimate matter. As a separate individual organism... ... Wikipedia

The request "Predator" is redirected here; see also other meanings. The query "Predators" redirects here; see also other meanings... Wikipedia

Between two ants of the species Oecophylla longinoda. Thailand. Trophallaxis ... Wikipedia

Co-evolution biological species, interacting in the ecosystem. Changes affecting any characteristics of individuals of one species lead to changes in another or other species. The concept of coevolution was first introduced by N.V. Timofeev Resovsky... ... Wikipedia

This article or section contains a list of sources or external references, but the sources of individual statements remain unclear due to the lack of footnotes... Wikipedia

Books

• Semiotic theory of biological life, N. A. Zarenkov. Is it possible to understand what life is by limiting ourselves to the study of the flesh of organisms - signs of life: molecules, chromosomes, cells, tissues and organs? This book substantiates the negative answer to...

Question 1. Define the main forms of interactions between living organisms.
1. Symbiosis (cohabitation)- a form of relationship in which both partners or one of them benefit from the interaction without causing harm to the other.
2. Antibiosis- a form of relationship in which both interacting populations (or one of them) experience a negative impact.
3. Neutrality- a form of relationship in which organisms living in the same territory do not directly influence each other. They form simple compounds.

Question 2. What forms of symbiosis do you know and what are their features?
There are several forms of symbiotic relationships, characterized by varying degrees of dependence of the partners.
1. Mutualism- a form of mutually beneficial cohabitation, when the presence of a partner is prerequisite the existence of each of them. For example, termites and flagellated protozoa that live in their intestines. Termites cannot themselves digest the cellulose on which they feed, but flagellates receive nutrition, protection and a favorable microclimate; lichens, which represent the inseparable cohabitation of a fungus and an algae, when the presence of a partner becomes a condition of life for each of them. The hyphae of the fungus, entwining the cells and filaments of the algae, receive substances synthesized by the algae. Algae extract water and minerals from the fungal hyphae. Lichen fungi are not found in a free state and are capable of forming a symbiotic organism only with a certain type seaweed
Higher plants also enter into mutually beneficial relationships with fungi. Many grasses and trees develop normally only when soil fungi colonize their roots. The so-called mycorrhiza is formed: root hairs on plant roots do not develop, and the fungal mycelium penetrates into the root. Plants receive water and mineral salts from the fungus, and the fungus, in turn, receives carbohydrates and other organic substances.
2. Cooperation- mutually beneficial coexistence of representatives of different species, which is, however, mandatory. For example, hermit crab and sea anemone soft coral.
3. Commensalism(companionship) - a relationship in which one species benefits, but the other is indifferent. For example, jackals and hyenas, eating leftover food in large predators- lions; fish pilots.

Question 3. What is the evolutionary significance of symbiosis?
Symbiotic relationships allow organisms to most fully and effectively master their environment and are the most important components natural selection, involved in the process of divergence of species.

Types of relationships between organisms

Animals and plants, fungi and bacteria do not exist in isolation from each other, but enter into complex relationships. There are several forms of interaction between populations.

Neutralism

Cohabitation of two species in the same territory, which has neither positive nor negative consequences for them.

In neutralism, cohabiting populations of different species do not influence each other. For example, we can say that a squirrel and a bear, a wolf and a cockchafer, do not directly interact, although live in the same forest.

Antibiosis

When both interacting populations or one of them experience a harmful, life-suppressing influence.

Antagonistic relationships can manifest themselves as follows:

1. Competition.

A form of antibiotic relationship in which organisms compete with each other for food resources, sexual partners, shelter, light, etc.

In competition for food, the species whose individuals reproduce faster wins. Under natural conditions, competition between closely related species weakens if one of them switches to a new food source (that is, they occupy a different ecological niche). For example, in winter, insectivorous birds avoid competition by different places searching for food: on tree trunks, in bushes, on stumps, on large or small branches.

Displacement of one population by another: In mixed crops of different types of clover, they coexist, but competition for light leads to a decrease in the density of each of them. Thus, competition that arises between closely related species can have two consequences: either the displacement of one species by another, or different ecological specialization of species, which makes it possible to coexist together.

Suppression of one population by another: Thus, fungi that produce antibiotics suppress the growth of microorganisms. Some plants that can grow on nitrogen-poor soils secrete substances that inhibit the activity of free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria, as well as the formation of nodules in legumes. In this way, they prevent the accumulation of nitrogen in the soil and the colonization of it by species that require large amounts of it.

3. Amensalism

A form of antibiotic relationship in which one organism interacts with another and suppresses its vital activity, while it itself does not experience any negative influences from the suppressed one (for example, spruce and lower tier plants). A special case is allelopathy - the influence of one organism on another, in which waste products of one organism are released into the external environment, poisoning it and making it unsuitable for the life of another (common in plants).

5. Predation

This is a form of relationship in which an organism of one species uses members of another species as a food source once (by killing them).

Cannibalism – special case predation – killing and eating one’s own kind (found in rats, brown bears, humans).

Symbiosis

A form of relationship in which the participants benefit from cohabitation or at least do not harm each other. Symbiotic relationships also come in a variety of forms.

1. Protocooperation is a mutually beneficial, but optional coexistence of organisms, from which all participants benefit (for example, hermit crab and sea anemone).

2. Mutualism is a form of symbiotic relationship in which either one of the partners or both cannot exist without a cohabitant (for example, herbivorous ungulates and cellulose-degrading microorganisms).

Lichens are an inseparable cohabitation of fungus and algae, when the presence of a partner becomes a condition of life for each of them. The hyphae of the fungus, entwining the cells and filaments of the algae, receive substances synthesized by the algae. Algae extract water and minerals from the fungal hyphae.

Many grasses and trees develop normally only when soil fungi (mycorrhiza) settle on their roots: root hairs do not develop, and the mycelium of the fungus penetrates into the root. Plants receive water and mineral salts from the fungus, which in turn receives organic substances.

3. Commensalism is a form of symbiotic relationship in which one of the partners benefits from cohabitation, and the other is indifferent to the presence of the first. There are two types of cohabitation:

Housing (some sea anemones and tropical fish). The fish sticks by clinging to large fish (sharks), uses them as a means of transportation and, in addition, feeds on their waste.

The use of structures and body cavities of other species as shelters is widespread. IN tropical waters some fish hide in the cavity of the respiratory organs (water lungs) of sea cucumbers (or sea cucumbers, order of echinoderms). The fry of some fish find refuge under the umbrella of jellyfish and are protected by their stinging threads. To protect the developing offspring, fish use the durable shell of crabs or bivalves. The eggs laid on the crab's gills develop under ideal supply conditions. clean water passed through the gills of the host. Plants also use other species as habitats. These are the so-called epiphytes - plants that settle on trees. These can be algae, lichens, mosses, ferns, flowering plants. Woody plants serve as a place of attachment for them, but not as a source of nutrients.

Freeloading (large predators and scavengers). For example, hyenas follow lions, picking up the remains of their uneaten prey. There may be different spatial relationships between partners. If one partner is outside the cells of the other, they speak of ectosymbiosis, and if inside the cells, they speak of endosymbiosis.

There are two types of nutrition of living organisms: autotrophic and heterotrophic.

Autotrophs (autotrophic organisms) are organisms that use carbon dioxide as a carbon source (plants and some bacteria). In other words, these are organisms capable of creating organic substances from inorganic ones - carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts.

Heterotrophs (heterotrophic organisms) are organisms that use organic compounds (animals, fungi and most bacteria) as a carbon source. In other words, these are organisms that are not capable of creating organic substances from inorganic ones, but require ready-made organic substances.

Some living beings, depending on living conditions, are capable of both autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition. Organisms with a mixed type of nutrition are called mixotrophs. Mixotrophs are organisms that can both synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones and feed on ready-made organic compounds (insectivorous plants, representatives of the euglena algae department, etc.)

Cohabitation of algae with other organisms T.V. Sedova.[...]

Plant cohabitation can occur without intravital metabolism. In these cases, a plant living on another, using the latter only as a place of attachment, is called an epiphyte. A special case of epiphytism are epiphytism, i.e. plants that use only the leaves of another plant as support. Epiphytes and epiphylls can significantly influence their substrate, complicating gas exchange in other ways.[...]

Symbiosis (cohabitation). This is a form of relationship in which both partners or one of them benefits from the other.[...]

All forms of cohabitation that occur between organisms belonging to different species are called symbioses. There are many transitional forms between the above types of cohabitation, which makes connections between organisms in the biosphere extremely diverse. The more diverse the connections that support the coexistence of species, the more stable their cohabitation.[...]

Symbiosis is the cohabitation of organisms of different species, from which both benefit.[...]

Mycorrhizal cohabitation (symbiosis) is mutually beneficial to both symbionts: the fungus extracts additional, inaccessible resources from the soil for the tree nutrients and water, and the tree supplies the fungus with the products of its photosynthesis - carbohydrates.[...]

Symbiosis, or cohabitation of two organisms, is one of the most interesting and is still in many ways mysterious phenomena in biology, although the study of this issue has almost hundred year history. The phenomenon of symbiosis was first discovered by the Swiss scientist Schwendener in 1877 while studying lichens, which, as it turned out, are complex organisms consisting of an algae and a fungus. The term "symbiosis" appeared in scientific literature later. It was proposed in 1879 by De Bary.[...]

Neutrality is the cohabitation of two species on the same territory, which has neither positive nor negative consequences for them. For example, squirrels and moose.[...]

SYMBIOSIS - close cohabitation of two or more organisms of different species, in which the organisms (symbionts) benefit each other. According to the degree of partnership and food dependence on each other, several types of symbiosis are distinguished: commensalism, mutualism, etc. Thus, commensalism (from the Latin “companion”) is a form of relationship between two species, when one feeds at the expense of the other, without causing any harm to it . Hermit crabs live with sea anemones; the latter attach to the mollusk shell in which the hermit crab lives, protecting it from enemies and feeding on the remains of its prey. Commensalism is especially widespread among sea ​​creatures, leading sedentary image life.[...]

Symbiosis is a close cohabitation of two or more species, beneficial for partners.[...]

SYMBIOSIS [gr. symbiosis cohabitation] - long-term cohabitation of organisms of different species (symbionts), usually bringing them mutual benefit (for example, lichen - C. fungus and algae).[...]

Mutualism is a form of cohabitation of organisms in which both partners benefit (the same as symbiosis).[...]

Symbiosis (Greek symbiosis - cohabitation) - cohabitation of individuals of two species, when both partners enter into direct mutually beneficial interaction with external environment, which manifests itself for them in the form of one of the forms of adaptation to the conditions of existence.[...]

Since in synoikia cohabitation is indifferent for one of the partners and is useful only for the other partner, adaptations in this case are one-sided. As an example, we can point out that in mites of the family Tyroglyphidae, which use various insects for dispersal, a special hypopial phase (hypopus phase) arose between the nymph and deutonymph phases.[...]

Another example of symbiosis is the cohabitation of higher plants with bacteria, the so-called bacteriotrophy. Symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing nodule bacteria is widespread among legumes (93% of the studied species) and mimosa (87%). Thus, bacteria from the genus Lygolisni, living in nodules on the roots of leguminous plants, are provided with food (sugars) and habitat, and the plants receive from them in return an accessible form of nitrogen (Fig. 6.13).[...]

Shilova A. I., Kurazhkovskaya T. N. Cohabitation of Glyptotendipes varipes Goetgh. and bryozoans Plumatella fungosa Pall.[...]

There are also mycorrhizal fungi that cohabit with the roots of higher plants. The mycelium of these fungi envelops the roots of plants and helps obtain nutrients from the soil. Mycorrhiza is observed mainly in woody plants having short sucking roots (oak, pine, larch, spruce).[...]

Mutualism is a mutually beneficial cohabitation when the presence of a partner becomes a prerequisite for the existence of each of them. An example is the cohabitation of nodule bacteria and leguminous plants, which can live together on soils poor in nitrogen and enrich the soil with it. [...]

Commensalism is a type of interspecific relationship, cohabitation, in which, in a joint environment, organisms of one species unilaterally benefit from the presence of organisms of another species (for example, “housing”, “transportation”, freeloading).[...]

Neutrality (from Latin - neither one nor the other) is the cohabitation of two populations of living organisms, when neither of them is influenced by the other. For example, species of herbivorous and predatory insects living in the same biocenosis, not related to each other by competition or nutrition. With neutralism, species are not directly related to each other, but can sometimes depend on the state of a given biocenosis as a whole. [...]

An example of a mutually beneficial relationship is the cohabitation of so-called nodule bacteria and leguminous plants (peas, beans, soybeans, clover, etc.). These bacteria, capable of absorbing nitrogen from the air and converting it into amino acids, settle in the roots of plants. The presence of bacteria causes the growth of root tissues and the formation of thickenings - nodules. Plants in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria can grow on soils poor in nitrogen and enrich the soil with it. This is why legumes are introduced into agricultural crop rotation.[...]

Mutualism (obligate symbiosis) - mutually beneficial cohabitation, when either one of the partners or both cannot exist without a cohabitant. For example, herbivorous ungulates and cellulose-degrading bacteria.[...]

Mutualism (obligate symbiosis) is a mutually beneficial cohabitation when either one of the partners or both cannot exist without a cohabitant. For example, herbivorous ungulates and cellulose-degrading bacteria. Cellulose-degrading bacteria live in the stomach and intestines of herbivorous ungulates. They produce enzymes that break down cellulose, so they are essential for herbivores who do not have such enzymes. Herbivorous ungulates, for their part, provide bacteria with nutrients and habitat with optimal temperature, humidity, etc.[...]

A typical example of symbiosis is the close cohabitation between fungi and algae, leading to the formation of a more complex and more adapted natural conditions plant organism - lichen. Another striking example of symbiotic cohabitation in the soil is the symbiosis of fungi with higher plants, when fungi form microorganisms on the roots of plants. A clear symbiosis is observed between nodule bacteria and leguminous plants.[ ...]

Almost all types of trees in normal conditions cohabitate with mycorrhizal fungi. The mycelium of the fungus envelops the thin roots of the tree like a sheath, penetrating into the intercellular space. A mass of the finest mushroom threads, extending a considerable distance from this cover, successfully performs the function of root hairs, sucking up a nutrient soil solution. [...]

Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship when both cohabiting species benefit from each other. [...]

Firstly, a specific feature of lichens is the symbiotic cohabitation of two different organisms- heterotrophic fungus (mycobiont) and autotrophic algae (phycobiont). Not every cohabitation of a fungus and algae forms a lichen. Lichen cohabitation should be permanent and historically developed, and not random, short-term. In nature, there are cases when a fungus and an alga form a temporary mixed accumulation, but this is not yet a lichen. In a real lichen, the fungus and algae enter into a close relationship, the fungal component surrounds the algae and can even penetrate their cells.[...]

Commensalism (or “freeloading”) is a form of cohabitation in which one species lives off the food reserves of another, without bringing benefit in turn. Sometimes commensalism appears as a more or less random phenomenon and is almost completely imperceptible to the partner whose food supplies are devoured. So, for example, the Malayan beetle from the genus Hustrev Nore drills into the branches of trees and feeds on the juice protruding from the wounds, and the protruding juice also attracts flies (Mie-c1 c1ae) and some other insects, which eat it together with Huygiree.[...]

Using the example of European and partly allotropic insects, we see their mutually beneficial cohabitation in biocenoses with plants. Even closer symbiotic relationships have been noted between some insects and the yeasts and bacteria that inhabit their intestines (Werner, 1927; Hitz, 1927, etc.).[...]

A typical example close symbiosis, or mutualism between plants, is the cohabitation of an algae and a fungus, which form a special integral organism-lichen (Fig. 6.11).[...]

SYMBIOSIS - a type of relationship between organisms of different systematic groups- mutually beneficial cohabitation of individuals of two or more species, for example algae, fungi and microorganisms within the body of a lichen.[...]

In some cases, the body or structures of one species may serve as habitat or protection for another. For example, in coral reefs lives a large number of marine organisms. Small sea inhabitants settle in the body cavity of the echinoderm holothurian. Epiphytic plants (mosses, lichens, some flowering plants) settle on trees, using them only as a place of attachment, and feed by photosynthesis.[...]

Competition is one of the reasons that two species, slightly different in the specifics of nutrition, behavior, lifestyle, etc., rarely coexist in the same community. Here the competition is in the nature of direct hostility. The most severe competition with unforeseen consequences occurs if a person introduces animal species into communities without taking into account already established relationships.[...]

Lichens represent a unique group of complex organisms, the body of which always consists of two components - a fungus and an algae. Now every schoolchild knows that the biology of lichens is based on the phenomenon of symbiosis - the cohabitation of two different organisms. But just over a hundred years ago, lichens were a great mystery to scientists, and the discovery of their essence by Simon Schwendener in 1867 was assessed as one of the most amazing discoveries of that time.[...]

Moles are not kind to their neighbors and do not tolerate any residents or other moles in their burrows. And if they are put together in a cramped box, the strong will kill and eat the weak. Only when it is time to breed, usually in March - May, do the male and female cohabit for a short time. It is possible that the male stays with the children until they grow up, and even allegedly brings them worms and other food. And if there is a flood, he helps the mother drag the children to dry holes. But whether this is actually so is still unknown with accuracy.[...]

K. is used to study the migration routes of animals (especially birds), establish the boundaries of their habitats, the characteristics of seasonal biology, and solve other problems. COMBINED IMPACT - see art. Impact on environment. COMMENSALISM, or freeloading [from lat. sot - s and mensa - table, meal] - a type of cohabitation of organisms when one of them (commensal) constantly or temporarily exists at the expense of the other, without causing him harm. COMPENSATORY BEHAVIOR - a complex of behavioral reactions of organisms aimed at weakening (compensation) of the limiting influence environmental factor.[ ...]

Commensalism is an interspecific interaction between organisms in which one organism benefits at the expense of another without harming it, while the other organism has neither benefit nor harm from this interaction. For example, some types of marine polyps settle on the surface of the body large fish, feeding on their secretions, but for fish this cohabitation is indifferent, that is, it has no meaning.[...]

The first roots of marattiaceae are usually infected with the fungus. But mycorrhiza is facultative here, since the fern can develop normally without interaction with the fungus, and this cohabitation is not vital for them.[...]

Mutualism is a widespread form of mutually beneficial relationships between species. Lichens are a classic example of mutualism. Symbionts in a lichen - a fungus and an alga - physiologically complement each other. The hyphae of the fungus, entwining the cells and filaments of the algae, form special suction processes, haustoria, through which the fungus receives substances assimilated by the algae. Algae obtains its minerals from water. Many grasses and trees normally exist only in cohabitation with soil fungi that settle on their roots. Mycorrhizal fungi promote the penetration of water, minerals and organic substances from the soil into plant roots, as well as the absorption of a number of substances. In turn, they receive carbohydrates and other organic substances necessary for their existence from the roots of plants.[...]

A fairly common phenomenon in relationships between different species is symbiosis, or the coexistence of two or more species, in which none of them can live separately under given conditions. A whole class of symbiotic organisms is represented by lichens - fungi and algae living together. In this case, the lichen fungus, as a rule, does not live at all in the absence of algae, while most of the algae that make up lichens are also found in free form. In this mutually beneficial cohabitation, the fungus supplies the water and minerals necessary for the algae, and the algae supplies the fungus with the products of photosynthesis. This combination of properties makes these symbiotic organisms extremely unpretentious to living conditions. They are able to settle on bare stones, on the bark of trees, etc. At the same time, the fact that lichens obtain a significant part of the mineral substances necessary for life from dust settling on their surface makes them very sensitive to the content of toxic substances in the air. One of the most reliable methods for determining the level of toxicity of impurities contained in the air is taking into account the amount and species diversity lichens in a controlled area, lichen indication. [...]

It is a rare animal that is so little scrupulous in choosing a home and its environment as the kuzulis. And the crowns of hundred-meter eucalyptus trees are suitable for him, and low-growing bushes, and dense rainforests, and rare groves along river valleys, and crevices in bare rocks, and holes in river cliffs, and rabbit holes in the open steppe, and even attics. Because male cousulis often settle in rabbit holes in Central Australia, an absurd legend was born. Farmers assure that this choice of housing was made by the old sinners for a reason: as if they were in a criminal misalliance with the rabbits. And it’s as if they saw crosses from their cohabitation. But this is a myth.[...]

A population (from the Latin populie - population) is a collection of individuals of the same species that inhabit a certain space for a long time, have a common gene pool, the ability to interbreed freely, and are to one degree or another isolated from other populations of this species. Population is the elementary form of existence of a species in nature. Populations evolve and are the units of species evolution and speciation. Possessing all the characteristics of a biological system, a population, nevertheless, is a collection of organisms, as if isolated from the natural system, since in nature, individuals of one species always coexist with individuals of other species. Only in artificial conditions or in a special experiment is it possible to deal with a “pure” population, for example, a culture of microorganisms, plant sowing, animal offspring, etc. [...]

Life on poor soils has developed a number of adaptations in heathers, the most important of which is symbiosis with fungi in the form of mycorrhiza. The lint of almost all heathers is closely entwined with mushroom threads, supplying them with nutrients from humus. In the latter case, some simple fungi (the body of which consists of only a few cells) live entirely in the cells of the heather roots and are gradually digested by them. Mycorrhiza has a huge positive value in the life of heathers. In some cases (for example, strawberry tree- Arbutus, tab. 13) infected roots turn into pear-shaped nodules (mycodomathia), the epidermal cells of which are transformed into root hairs. It has been established that heather seeds, for example, germinate only with the help of mycorrhiza. Some researchers believe that heathers live on acidic soils because the fungi that cohabit with them cannot tolerate alkaline soils.

Detailed solution paragraph § 77 in biology for 10th grade students, authors Kamensky A.A., Kriksunov E.A., Pasechnik V.V. 2014

• Gdz workbook in Biology for grade 10 you can find

1. What biotic environmental factors do you know?

2. What types of competition do you know?

Answer. Competition - in biology, any antagonistic relationship associated with the struggle for existence, for dominance, for food, space and other resources between organisms, species or populations of species that need the same resources.

Intraspecific competition is competition between representatives of one or more populations of a species. Goes for resources, intra-group dominance, females/males, etc.

Interspecific competition is competition between populations of different species of non-adjacent trophic levels in a biocenosis. It is due to the fact that representatives of different species jointly use the same resources, which are usually limited. Resources can be either food (for example, the same types of prey for predators or plants for phytophages), or of another kind, for example, the availability of places for breeding offspring, shelters for protection from enemies, etc. Species can also compete for dominance in the ecosystem. There are two forms of competitive relationships: direct competition (interference) and indirect competition (exploitation). With direct competition between populations of species in a biocenosis, antagonistic relationships (antibiosis) evolve evolutionarily, expressed by various types of mutual oppression (fights, blocking access to a resource, allelopathy, etc.). In indirect competition, one of the species monopolizes a resource or habitat, thereby worsening the conditions for the existence of a competitive species of a similar ecological niche.

Both evolutionarily (taxonomically) close species and representatives of very distant groups can compete in nature. For example, gophers in the dry steppe eat up to 40% of plant growth. This means that pastures can support fewer saigas or sheep. And during the years of mass reproduction of locusts, there is not enough food for either gophers or sheep.

3. What is symbiosis?

Typically, symbiosis is mutualistic, i.e. the cohabitation of both organisms (symbionts) is mutually beneficial and arises in the process of evolution as one of the forms of adaptation to the conditions of existence. Symbiosis can be carried out both at the level multicellular organisms, and at the level of individual cells (intracellular symbiosis). Plants can enter into symbiotic relationships with plants, plants with animals, animals with animals, plants and animals with microorganisms, microorganisms with microorganisms. The term “symbiosis” was first introduced by the German botanist A. de Bary (1879) as applied to lichens. A striking example symbiosis among plants is represented by mycorrhiza - the cohabitation of fungal mycelium with roots higher plant(hyphae entwine the roots and contribute to the flow of water and minerals from the soil into them); Some orchids cannot grow without mycorrhizae.

Nature knows numerous examples of symbiotic relationships from which both partners benefit. For example, the symbiosis between leguminous plants and soil bacteria Rhizobium is extremely important for the nitrogen cycle in nature. These bacteria - also called nitrogen-fixing bacteria - settle on the roots of plants and have the ability to “fix” nitrogen, that is, to break down the strong bonds between the atoms of atmospheric free nitrogen, making it possible to incorporate nitrogen into compounds accessible to the plant, such as ammonia. In this case, the mutual benefit is obvious: the roots are a habitat for bacteria, and the bacteria supply the plant with the necessary nutrients.

There are also numerous examples of symbiosis that is beneficial for one species and does not bring any benefit or harm to another species. For example, the human intestine is inhabited by many types of bacteria, the presence of which is harmless to humans. Similarly, plants called bromeliads (which include pineapple, for example) live on tree branches but get their nutrients from the air. These plants use the tree for support without depriving it of nutrients.

A type of symbiosis is endosymbiosis, when one of the partners lives inside the cell of the other.

The science of symbiosis is symbiology.

Questions after § 77

1. What examples do you know of positive and negative interactions between organisms of different species?

2. What is the essence of the predator-prey relationship?

Answer. Predation (+ −) is a type of relationship between populations in which representatives of one species eat (destroy) representatives of another, i.e., organisms of one population serve as food for organisms of another. The predator usually catches and kills its prey itself, after which it eats it completely or partially. Such predators are characterized by hunting behavior. But besides predator-hunters, there is also large group predator-gatherers whose feeding method consists of simply searching and collecting prey. These are, for example, many insectivorous birds that collect food on the ground, in the grass or in trees.

Predation is a widespread form of communication, not only between animals, but also between plants and animals. Thus, herbivory (eating plants by animals) is, in essence, also predation; on the other hand, a number of insectivorous plants (sundew, nepenthes) can also be classified as predators.

However, in a narrow, ecological sense, only the consumption of animals by animals is considered predation.

4. Which ones are the most famous examples Are you familiar with symbiotic relationships?

Answer. Symbiotic relationships in which stable, mutually beneficial cohabitation of two organisms of different species are observed is called mutualism. Such are, for example, the relationships between the hermit crab and the sea anemone, or highly specialized plants for pollination with the insect species that pollinate them (clover and bumblebee). Nutcracker feeding only on seeds (nuts) cedar pine, is the only distributor of its seeds. Mutualism is very widely developed in nature.

5. How do you understand mutualism and symbiosis?