Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Day 2

Today is my second day in the Anaktuvak Pass in Alaska. Today I decided to look for examples of symbiosis in the area. The three types of symbiosis are mutualism, commenalism, and parasitism.

Mutualism -a symbiotic relationship between two organisms of different species in each member benefits

An example I found on this type of symbiosis is between the lichen and algae. From the previous day, I took a picture of some lichen, if you wish to see it. What I studied was that the lichen is provided the sugar to grow from the algae, while the lichen is used as a physical substrate for the algae to thrive on.


Commenalism -a symbiotic relationship between two oraganisms of different species in which one denies benefit without harming the other


An example I found for this type is between a polar bear and a flock of gulls. While examining a polar bear, it kills a caribou. After carefully examining the bear after eating the caribou (not getting too close to it) I noticed a flock of gulls came in and scavenged the rest of the caribou's meat. I unfortunately was not able to get any photos of this because it seemed too dangerous to even get that close to get a good enough shot. :(

Parasitism -a symbiotic relationship between two oraganisms of different soecies in which one organism benefits and the other is harmed.

An example I found is when I noticed a tape worm going inside of a caribou. From my knowledge, tapeworms go into warm-blooded animals to use a host to lay eggs in and live in. Here is a picture of a tapeworm:


After a day of examining some plants, a dangerous polar bear, and a nasty tapeworm, I called it a day. Again, I'm excited to my next day in the Anaktuvak Pass.

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