My AP Biology ThoughtsUnit 8 Episode #29

Welcome to My AP Biology Thoughts podcast, my name is Nikki and I am your host for episode #29 called Unit 8 Ecology: Symbiotic Relationships..  Today we will be discussing the 3 symbiotic relationships in nature.

Segment 1: Introduction to symbiotic relationships

• Symbiosis is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, may be of the same or of different species

Segment 2: Example of symbiotic relationships

• Mutualism: 2 organisms benefit from one another
• Example:  oxpecker (a kind of bird) and the rhinoceros or zebra. Oxpeckers land on rhinos or zebras and eat ticks and other parasites that live on their skin. The oxpeckers get food and the beasts get pest control. 
• Commensalism: 1 organism benefits and other organism is not impacted
• Example :Remora fish have a disk on their heads that makes them able to attach to larger animals, such as sharks, mantas, and whales. When the larger animal feeds, the remora detaches itself to eat the extra food.
• Parasitism: 1 organism benefits and the other is negatively impacted
• Example: Moose and ticks-In such numbers the ticks drain so much blood that the host moose can become anemic and malnourished 

Segment 3: Digging Deeper into symbiotic relationships

How does this topic fit into the greater picture of ecology?

• Ecology is all about organisms relationships with each other and the environment
• Helps classify how they all fit in with each other
• because they are a major driving force of evolution- coevolution-evolve together. This networking and cooperation among species allows them to survive better than they would as individuals.

Thank you for listening to this episode of My AP Biology Thoughts.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com.  See you next time!

Music Credits:

• "Ice Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
•  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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