ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT: ASSOCIATION

CONTENT

1. Types of Associations
2. Features of Biological Importance Possessed by Organisms of an Association

Types of Associations

Ecology is defined as the study of living organisms and the relationships or interactions between them and their environment. The interactions between plants and animals in their environment are usually described as biotic interactions or associations. There is a close association between the biotic and abiotic components of the environment. Both affect each other and are equally important for the ecosystem.

Symbiosis

Symbiosis is a term for all associations in which all or some of the species involved benefits or loses. It is interdependence of different species, which are sometimes called symbionts. Based upon the specific relationship between the species involved in a symbiotic association, at least one member benefits. There are three main types of symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships may be grouped as:

1. Parasitism
2. Mutualism
3. commensalism

Lichens of the Splash Zone of the Intertidal Region

Lichens are actually a combination of two entirely different types of living organisms, an alga and a fungus.