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Diagram of the six possible types of symbiotic relationship, from mutual benefit to mutual harm. The definition of symbiosis was a matter of debate for 130 years. [7] In 1877, Albert Bernhard Frank used the term symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens.
The six possible types of symbiotic relationship, from mutual benefit to mutual harm. The six possible types of symbiosis are mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, neutralism, amensalism, and competition. [16] These are distinguished by the degree of benefit or harm they cause to each partner. [17]
Competition is an interaction between organisms or species in which both require one or more resources that are in limited supply (such as food, water, or territory). [1] Competition lowers the fitness of both organisms involved since the presence of one of the organisms always reduces the amount of the resource available to the other. [2]
Mutualism can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, and with parasitism, in which one species benefits at the expense of the other. [2] However, mutualism may evolve from interactions that began with imbalanced benefits, such as parasitism. [3]
Ectosymbiosis is defined as a symbiotic relationship in which one organism lives on the outside surface of a different organism. [3] For instance, barnacles on whales is an example of an ectosymbiotic relationship where the whale provides the barnacle with a home, a ride, and access to food.
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 ...
Mycorrhizal associations have profoundly impacted the evolution of plant life on Earth ever since the initial adaptation of plant life to land. In evolutionary biology, mycorrhizal symbiosis has prompted inquiries into the possibility that symbiosis, not competition, is the main driver of evolution. [5]
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 resources, biological interactions turn to competition and parasitism. [3]