Symbiosis

Life on earth is so complex and interconnected it makes little sense to study any individual species when trying to understand the bigger picture. On a daily basis, any given species across the globe interacts with other species within its surrounding habitat. These sorts of interactions are broadly classified as symbiosis, which can then be separated into subcategories of specific interaction types. Some of these interactions observed by scientists include predation, parasitism, commensalism, mutualism, and competition. Every individual, regardless of species, does their best to survive and reproduce by any means necessary and these five relationships are a testament to that. Overall in each case either both, one, or neither species involved in the interaction benefit. In mutualistic relationships, one species provides another with a resource and vice versa, competitive relationships tend to harm both species as neither can reach their full potential resource claim, and predation benefits one species at the complete expense of another.