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Mutualism is an interaction between two or more species, where species derive a mutual benefit, for example an increased carrying capacity. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. Mutualism may be classified in terms of the closeness of association, the closest being symbiosis, which is often confused with mutualism.
The relationship is therefore classified as mutualistic. [1] Symbiosis (Ancient Greek συμβίωσις symbíōsis: living with, companionship < σύν sýn: together; and βίωσις bíōsis: living) [2] is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction, between two organisms of different species.
Between these extremes many different types of interaction are possible. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The degree of change between mutualism or parasitism varies depending on the availability of resources, where there is environmental stress generated by few resources, symbiotic relationships are formed while in environments where there is an excess of ...
Whether the relationship between humans and some types of gut flora is commensal or mutualistic is still unanswered. Some biologists argue that any close interaction between two organisms is unlikely to be completely neutral for either party, and that relationships identified as commensal are likely mutualistic or parasitic in a subtle way that ...
Symbiosis includes three types of interactions—mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism—of which only mutualism can sometimes qualify as cooperation. Mutualism involves a close, mutually beneficial interaction between two different biological species, whereas "cooperation" is a more general term that can involve looser interactions and can ...
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. [1] The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". [2]
Symbiosis spans a wide variety of possible relationships between organisms, differing in their permanence and their effects on the two parties. If one of the partners in an association is much larger than the other, it is generally known as the host. [1] In parasitism, the parasite benefits at the host's expense. [2]
Symbiosis (mutualism) appears in fiction, especially science fiction, as a plot device. It is distinguished from parasitism in fiction , a similar theme, by the mutual benefit to the organisms involved, whereas the parasite inflicts harm on its host.