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Mutualism is an interaction between two or more species, where species derive a mutual benefit, for example an increased carrying capacity. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. Mutualism may be classified in terms of the closeness of association, the closest being symbiosis, which is often confused with mutualism.
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living and non-living components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components such as chemicals , bedrock , soil , plants , and animals .
Ecosystem classifications are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of ecosystems: a biotic component, an abiotic complex, the interactions between and within them, and the physical space they occupy. Biotic factors of the ecosystem are living things; such as plants, animals, and bacteria ...
Beavers are an example of such engineers. Other examples include earthworms, trees, coral reefs, and planktonic organisms. Such 'network engineers' can be seen as "interaction modifiers", meaning that a change in their population density affects the interactions between two or more other species.
For example, mutualistic interactions are vital for terrestrial ecosystem function as: about 80% of land plants species rely on mycorrhizal relationships with fungi to provide them with inorganic compounds and trace elements. [7] estimates of tropical rainforest plants with seed dispersal mutualisms with animals range at least from 70% to 93.5% ...
Thus, the nature of species interactions may shift with environmental conditions. Facilitation has a greater effect on plant interactions under environmental stress than competition. [9] Another example is the positive effects of facilitation on desert plants that face the effects of rising aridification.
Trophic cascades are powerful indirect interactions that can control entire ecosystems, occurring when a trophic level in a food web is suppressed. For example, a top-down cascade will occur if predators are effective enough in predation to reduce the abundance, or alter the behavior of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation (or herbivory if the intermediate ...
These interactions can be trophic or symbiotic. Ecological networks are used to describe and compare the structures of real ecosystems, while network models are used to investigate the effects of network structure on properties such as ecosystem stability.