Answer:
Five types of relationships are found among organisms in an ecosystem: competition, predation, commensalism, mutualism and parasitism.
Explanation:
A niche is the physical space in which organisms live, and includes how the organisms use the resources that are in that space, and how they interact with other organisms in that space. The interaction among organisms within or between overlapping niches can be characterized into five types of relationships: competition, predation, commensalism, mutualism and parasitism.
Symbiosis refers to a close relationship in which one or both organisms obtain a benefit.The last three types are basically defined as relationships exhibiting symbiosis, but predation and competition can also be considered as forms of symbiosis.
Predation is defined as when one organism eats another organism to obtain nutrients.
Competition is defned as when individuals or populations compete for the same resource, and can occur within or between species.
Commensalism is a relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed. There are four basic types of commensalism. 1) Phoresy 2)Chemical commensalism 3) Inquilinism 4)Metabiosis
Parasitism is a relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed, but not always killed. The organism that benefits is called the parasite, and the one that is harmed is the host. Parasites can be ectoparasites or endoparasites.
Mutualism is a relationship in which both species benefit. Mutualistic interaction patterns occur in three forms. Obligate mutualism is when one species cannot survive apart from the other. Diffusive mutualism is when one organism can live with more than one partner. Facultative mutualism is when one species can survive on its own under certain conditions.
