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Competition is where a larger or stronger organism deprives a smaller or weaker one of a resource. Antagonism occurs when one organism is damaged or killed by another through a chemical secretion. An example of competition is a sapling growing under the shadow of a mature tree.
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]
Despite a different definition between mutualism and symbiosis, they have been largely used interchangeably in the past, and confusion on their use has persisted. [6] Mutualism plays a key part in ecology and evolution. For example, mutualistic interactions are vital for terrestrial ecosystem function as:
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.
Many lichens are examples of obligate symbiosis. In fact, one-fifth of all known extant fungal species form obligate symbiotic associations with green algae, cyanobacteria or both. [24] Not all examples of mutualism are also examples of cooperation. Specifically, in by-product mutualism, both participants benefit, but cooperation is not involved.
The best-known example is the so-called "paradox of the plankton". [6] All plankton species live on a very limited number of resources, primarily solar energy and minerals dissolved in the water. According to the competitive exclusion principle, only a small number of plankton species should be able to coexist on these resources.
For example, if annual plants germinate in different years, then when it is a good year to germinate, species will be competing predominately with members of the same species. Thus, if a species becomes rare, individuals will experience little competition when they germinate whereas they would experience high competition if they were abundant.