Intraspecific Competition and Cooperation

A community is a group of populations living together in an area and interacting with each other

Relationship within a community can be intraspecific or interspecific

--> same species (intra-)

--> different species (inter-)

Competition between members of the same species in a population occurs because individuals share the same ecological niche  with similar requirements for resources

• Competition for light and nutrients in the soil in plants

• Competition for pollinators in flowering plants

• Competition for food and water in animals

• Competition for breeding sites in animals

Individuals in a population might also cooperate in a variety of ways

• Communal roosting in birds - provides warmth and protection

• Bait balls in fish - harder for predators to catch

• Group hunting in wolves - social predation increases chances of success

• Shared parental care (meerkats) - allows other parents to see to other tasks

Categories of interspecific relationship

Herbivory: an animal eating a plant

E.g. a gazelle feeding on grasses

Predation: an animal eating an animal

E.g. European blackbird feeding on earthworms

Interspecific competition: two or more different species competition

E.g. gull species feeding on a shoreline

Mutualism: two species interacting in a way so that both species benefit

E.g. pollinators fertilising flowering plants

Parasitism: one species benefits but the other is harmed

E.g. Dog fleas living in its fur

Pathogenicity: one species causes a disease in another

E.g. mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis in humans