Symbiosis

Symbiosis by definition is "A close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member" as stated on dictionary.com. There are three types of symbiotic relationships. There are parasitism, which is where one organism is help while the other is harmed. An example would be humans and lice. The lice is helped while the human is harmed. Another type of symbiotic relationship is commensalism. This is when one organism is benefited while the other is not helped nor harmed. That second organism is nuetral. An example of this would be a bird living in a tree. The bird is helped where the tree is not helped nor harmed. The last example of sybiosis is mutualism. This is where both organisms are helped. An example of this wouls be bees and flowers. The bees and flowers are both helped in this relationship.

Three Interesting Facts: One interesting fact is people have different opinions and facts about whether clownfish and sea anemones are an example of commensalism or an example or mutualism. However, the truth is both of these organisms benefit so it truely is an example of mutualism. Another interesting fact is that many people consider the term symbiosis to only refer to mutualism. However, this term also applies to parasitism and commensalism. Another interesting fact is the term symbiosis was first used in 1879 by the German mycologist, Heinrich Anton de Bary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=39626).

Facts From Other Sources: One fact is, if most plants didn't have fungus living on their roots, they would die from lack of water and nutrients. This means fungi may be disgusting is some peoples' opinions, but have a huge inpact on plants, which have a large impact on the environment. Another fact is "commensalism usually occurs between a species that is either vulnerable to predation and another species with a relatively effective system of defence." That means commensalism usually happen between species that are easily harmed by predators and species that are good at protecting themselves.

Opinion: I think symbiosis is a great way to survive. However, I believe paraistism is very harmful and not helpful. The orgamisn that benifits is a parasite which is bad. I think that organisms should be able to use each other for help but harming another organism for your own benefit is wrong. Almost everyone and everything does use somthing/someone once in a while but that harms the other organism so it is bad for the planet and for the other organism's health.

Citation:
Image:
http://www.cals.wisc.edu/symbiosis/graphics/definition.gif
Definition:
from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/symbiosis
Recources:
First fact (from other source): Is an website article writen from facts from a book. The website URL is: http://natureniche.tripod.com/symbiosis.html. The bibliography at the bottom of the webpage is as follows: Hudler, George W. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1998.Margulis, Lynn. Symbiotic Planet. Basic Books, New York, 1998.UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Homepage. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/ index.html. October 30, 1999.
Second Fact (from other source): Abbott, Dave. "Symbiosis." Poliza. May 2000. Dip. Marine Studies. 15 Nov. 2008 .