DOL_Bio Ecological Relationships 1

A remora is a fish that has an adhesive disk on the back of its head that it uses to attach itself to a large shark.  When food floats away from the shark’s mouth as it feeds, the remora collects the scraps. Drawings of a shark with a remora attached and a remora’s adhesive disk are shown below.

The relationship between the remora and the shark is an example of ___

• 1. Predation

• 1. Parasitism

• 1. Commensalism

• 1. Competition 

Which of the following best demonstrates mutualism between certain types of bacteria and humans?

• 1. Intestinal bacteria obtain nutrients from the gut and produce vitamin K used by humans.

• 1. Bacteria become resistant to antibacterial medication that humans use for treatment.

• 1. Invasive bacteria at an area of injury produce toxins that damage healthy tissues of the human body.

• 1. Bacteria in improperly prepared food is consumed by humans, causing food poisoning.

Spores of the fungus Ustilago maydis land and grow on sweet corn. The fungus then infects the plant tissue, extracting nutrients from the plant’s cells.

The relationship between sweet corn and Ustilago maydis can best be described as —-

• 1. Competition

• 1. Commensalism

• 1. Predation

• 1. Parasitism

 The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is a large, flat fish that spends most of its time in deep water feeding mainly on  jellyfish. Sunfish often have many species of copepods, small crustaceans, that bury their heads into the soft tissue of the sunfish, harming the sunfish. Sunfish will swim to the surface of the water and lie sideways, allowing seabirds to eat the copepods from their skin.

Select THREE ​ that describe the types of relationships the sunfish has with the following marine organisms:

Seabirds: ​ (a)  

Jellyfish: ​ (b)  

Copepods: ​ (c)  

• Mutualism
• Predation
• Parasitism
• Commensalism
• Competition

Short Answer Response

Compare and contrast competition and commensalism in ecological contexts. Provide an example for each and explain the ecological consequences of these interactions.