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TYPES OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS

MUTUALISM: both species benefit from interaction
A common example of mutualism is the interrelationship between flower and pollinator	Another common example is payment of fruit for seed dispersal
COMPETITION: both species (or individuals) lose from interaction
When a scarce resource (food, shelter, mates, etc.) is shared, often competition is the result
PREDATION: the predator gains by killing and eating the prey (who loses)
Here a gila monster eats a mouse	Another example is this crab spider eating this butterfly.
PARASITISM: the parasite gains by feeding on the host (loses)
Desert mistletoe takes water and nutrients from this desert ironwood.	This praying mantis egg case has been parasitized by a wasp whose larvae fed on the mantids and then chewed their way out of the egg case.
COMMENSALISM: the commensal gains while the host is unaffected
A gopher snake uses an abandoned rodent hole.