Distinguish ecological interactions

Supplied materials

• All measurements and observations below are supplied classroom examples. They are not data from actual learners or a claim about a particular real site.
• Paper or a browser document for a labeled drawing, table or explanation.
• Worked problem inputs: Two species use the same limited nesting holes, while a flower-pollinator pair both benefit. Compare mechanisms.
• Assessment case 1: A flower gains pollination and its visitor gains food in the supplied case. What consequence fits? Which inference or prediction is best supported?
• Assessment case 2: Which scientific label fits the specifically described step or feature? Supplied case: Two plants compete for limited light.
• Assessment case 3: Which scientific label fits the specifically described step or feature? Supplied case: Owl consumes a captured mouse.
• Assessment case 4: Which scientific label fits the specifically described step or feature? Supplied case: Parasite takes resources from living host.
• Assessment case 5: Which scientific label fits the specifically described step or feature? Supplied case: Both modeled partners gain a benefit.
• Assessment case 6: Two species use the same limited nesting holes; added holes reduce the conflict. What mechanism fits? Which inference or prediction is best supported?

Learn the idea

Interaction labels describe effects under stated conditions. Mutualism benefits both, competition involves shared limited resources, predation consumes another organism and parasitism benefits one while harming a host.

Mutualism means both participants benefit in stated case. Competition means participants use a shared limited resource. Predation means one organism captures and consumes another. Parasitism means one benefits while harming a living host.

For the supplied mechanism problem, Two species use the same limited nesting holes, while a flower-pollinator pair both benefit. Compare mechanisms. The first is competition for a limited resource; the second is mutualism in the stated case. Interaction effects depend on conditions, not simply whether organisms appear together.

1. Read the supplied problem and mark the structures, processes or quantities named: Two species use the same limited nesting holes, while a flower-pollinator pair both benefit. Compare mechanisms.
2. Draw the relevant boundary, pathway or comparison and label it using the scientific ideas above.
3. Write a causal explanation or calculation, showing how each observation supports the result.
4. Compare your reasoning with the worked solution; name a condition that would change or limit the inference.

Check your reasoning

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Take it further

New case: two organisms share limited food; a separate parasite feeds on a living host. Expected: competition in the first, parasitism in the second; merely appearing together is insufficient to infer mutualism.

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