The relationships within ecosystems include:
- Adaption.
- Competition.
- Interdependence.
Adaption
- An adaption is a characteristic that improves the chances of an organism surviving within its habitat.
For example an earthworm has the following adaptions;
- Long, slimy, narrow body which allows the worm to burrow in the soil.
- Living under rocks and quickly borrowing into the soil helps earthworms to avoid being eaten by predators.
- For example, sloths are adapted to life in the trees. They have curved feet for grasping branches, they are camouflaged to blend in with tree trunks.
Competition
- Competition occurs between members of a community whenever there is a limited supply of a resource that they need.
- For example, cactus plants in a desert compete for water because there is a limited supply, but they do not compete for sunlight because there is plenty of sunlight.
Animals also compete for resources like:
- Food.
- Water.
- Shelter.
- Mates.
- Power i.e who's in charge.
Interdependence
- This is the way that living organisms rely on each other.
Example: Bees and Flowers.
- The bee can get inside the flower of a foxglove to look for nectar to eat.
- Pollen from the flower gets stuck to its legs.
- The bee flies to another flower and the pollen falls off and pollinates that plant.
- The foxglove depends on the bee for pollination and the bee depends on the foxglove for food.