Ecological Interactions Activity
A fungus (Ceratocystis ulme) spreads from tree to tree
via the elm bark beetle. The beetle digs into the bark to
lay her eggs. The larvae feed on spores where fungi
grows and can spread the fungi from tree to tree. The
fungi grow in the channels that carry water to the plant,
eventually blocking the tree’s water supply.
Classify the
following roles:
•Tree and fungus
•Tree and beetle
•Beetle and fungus
The Dodder plant is a plant with no
chlorophyll. It lives on other
plants, by spiraling up the host and
growing roots into the host plant’s
stem. They “steal” the host’s
sugars.
Classify the following roles:
•Dodder plant and its host
Small fish attach to larger fish
and eat dead cells and algae
from its host.
Classify the following roles:
•Cleaner fish and its host
Rabies is a virus that can affect
many mammals. It is passed
along in animal bites that transfer
it from saliva to the blood. It
travels to the brain causing
inflammation and it attacks areas
of the brain causing aggressive
behavior.
Classify the following
roles:
•Rabies and mammals
A fish called a remora attaches its mouth to a shark. It is
carried by the shark, using very little energy and
swallows pieces of the shark’s prey as it floats by. The
shark is unaffected.
Classify the
following roles:
•Remora and shark
Ants eat the waxy coating off a
peony bud allowing the flower to
open.
Classify the
following roles:
•Peonies and ants
Tickbirds ride on the back of a rhinoceros and eat tick
and other external parasites off its back.
Classify the
following roles:
•Rhino and tickbird
An anopheles mosquito carries
Plasmodium (a protist). When the
mosquito bites the human, it drinks its
blood and transfers the Plasmodium
into the blood stream of the human.
Then, the Plasmodium travels to the
person’s liver, reproduces and its
larvae eat the person’s red blood cells.
Classify the following roles:
•Mosquito and protist
•Mosquito and human
•Protist and human
Classify the following roles:
•Monarch and milkweed
Monarch butterflies feed on milkweed which has a
chemical in it that is poisonous for most animals. The
monarch stores these poisons, therefore becoming
poisonous to animals, as well. The butterfly is an
important pollinator for the milkweed plant.