In biology, mutualism is an interaction between two or more species, where both species derive benefit. Biological interactions result from the fact that organisms in an ecosystem interact with each other, in the natural world, no organism is an autonomous entity isolated from its surroundings. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

Classification

• Lifelong interactions involving close physical and biochemical contact (known as symbiosis), such as those between plants and mycorrhizal fungi
• Briefer, non-symbiotic interactions, such as those between flowering plants and pollinators.
• Obligatory or non-obligatory (facultative). For example, bacteria known as rhizobia reproduce either in the soil or in (usually) mutualistic symbiosis with legume plants (Denison & Kiers 2004). Mycorrhizal fungi, on the other hand, can be totally dependent on their plant hosts. microbes often band together for mutual benefit in biofilms to break down solid food sources as in rusticles. The relationship between people and their pets is a non-obligatory mutualism for the human, and, depending on the animal, either obligatory or non-obligatory.

The question how and why species might cooperate has also been addressed philosophically. Gilles Deleuze, for example, is interested in the way this questioned the conception of evolutionism and the notion of linear historical progress. Meat Ants harvest Leaf Hoppers for their honey dew. ... A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural forms mycorrhizae or mycorrhizas, Greek for fungus roots) is the result of a mutualistic association between a fungus and a plant. ... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... A pollinator is the agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain. ... Soybean root nodules, each containing billions of Bradyrhizobium bacteria Rhizobia (from the Greek words riza = root and bios = Life) are soil bacteria that fix nitrogen (diazotrophy) after becoming established inside root nodules of legumes (Fabaceae). ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... Longest raised mat area is about half a meter long. ... A rusticle is a little similar to an icicle or stalactite in appearance, but occurs under water when wrought iron rusts. ... Pets and humans often contribute toward the happiness of the other in a pet relationship. ... Gilles Deleuze (IPA: ), (January 18, 1925 – November 4, 1995) was a French philosopher of the late 20th century. ... Evolutionism, from the Latin evolutio, unrolling, refers to theories that certain things develop or change as natural (unplanned) outgrowths of those that existed before, in contrast to beliefs that these things are fixed and immutable. ... Historical progress has been a main object of philosophy of history. ...

Examples

Some examples of mutualism are the relationships between bees and flowers, or the example of ants and a shrub brush called Bullhorn Acacia. Families Andrenidae Apidae Colletidae Halictidae Megachilidae Melittidae Stenotritidae Bees are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. ... Subfamilies Aenictogitoninae Agroecomyrmecinae Amblyoponinae (incl. ... The bull-horn acacia, Acacia cornigera (family Fabaceae), is a type of acacia with a very specific feature: It can only live a long time when in symbiosis with ants. ...

In the acacia example, certain ants (e.g. Pseudomyrmex spinicola) nest inside the plant's thorns. In exchange for food and shelter, ants protect acacias from attack by herbivores and competition from other plants. The ants reduce competition by trimming back vegetation that shades the shrub. Binomial name Pseudomyrmex spinicola Emery, 1890 Pseudomyrmex spinicola is a species of red myrmecophyte-inhabitating neotropical ants which are found only in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. ...

A famous land version of symbiosis is the relationship of the Egyptian Plover bird and the crocodile. In this relationship, the bird is well known for preying on parasites that feed on crocodiles. To that end, the crocodile openly invites the bird to hunt on its body, even going so far as to open its jaws to allow the bird enter the mouth safely to hunt. For the bird, this relationship not only is a ready source of food, but a safe one considering that few predator species would dare strike at the bird at such proximity to its host. Binomial name Pluvianus aegyptius (Linnaeus, 1758) The Egyptian Plover, Pluvianus aegyptius, is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. ... Genera Mecistops Crocodylus Osteolaemus See full taxonomy. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... Human jaw front view Human jaw left view Human jaw top view The jaw is either of the two opposable structures forming, or near the entrance to, the mouth. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...

See also

• Gilles Deleuze's use of the concept of mutualism in the invention of rhizomes (In particular the mutualism between the orchid and the wasp; cf. A Thousand Plateaus)
• Ecological facilitation
• Co-adaptation
• Co-evolution

Gilles Deleuze (IPA: ), (January 18, 1925 – November 4, 1995) was a French philosopher of the late 20th century. ... Ginger rhizome A rhizome is, in botany, a usually underground, horizontal stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... Orchid re-directs here; for alternate uses see Orchid (disambiguation) Genera Over 800 See List of Orchidaceae genera. ... Suborder Apocrita See text for explanation. ... A Thousand Plateaus (1980) is a book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. ... Facilitation describes species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither (Stachowicz 2001). ... In Biology, co-adaptation, or coadaptation refers to the mutual adaptation of: Species: see mutualism, symbiosis organs: see the evolution of the eye. ... Bumblebees and the flowers they pollinate have co-evolved so that both have become dependent on each other for survival. ...

References

• Breton, Lorraine M., and John F. Addicott. 1992. Density-Dependent Mutualism in an Aphid-Ant Interaction. Ecology, Vol. 73, No. 6, pp. 2175-2180.
• Bronstein, JL. 1994. Our current understand of mutualism. Quarterly Review of Biology 69 (1): 31-51 MAR 1994
• Bronstein JL, 2001. The exploitation of mutualisms. Ecology Letters 4 (3): 277-287
• Bronstein JL, 2001. The costs of mutualism. American Zoologist 41 (4): 825-839 S
• Bronstein JL, Alarcon R, Geber M. 2006. The evolution of plant-insect mutualisms. New Phytologist 172 (3): 412-428
• Denison RF, Kiers ET 2004. Why are most rhizobia beneficial to their plant hosts, rather than parasitic? Microbes and Infection 6 (13): 1235-1239 ISSN 1286-4579
• DeVries, PJ; and Baker, I. 1989. Butterfly exploitation of an ant-plant mutualism: Adding insult of herbivory. Journal of the New York Entomological Society [J. N.Y. ENTOMOL. SOC.]. Vol. 97, no. 3, pp. 332-340. ISSN 0028-7199
• Hoeksema, J.D. & E.M.Bruna. 2000. Pursuing the big questions about interspecific mutualism: a review of theoretical approaches. Oecologia 125:321-330 ISSN 0029-8549
• Jahn, G.C. and J.W. Beardsley 2000. Interactions of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) on pineapple. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 34: 181-185. ISSN 0073-134X
• Jahn, Gary C., J. W. Beardsley and H. González-Hernández 2003. A review of the association of ants with mealybug wilt disease of pineapple. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 36:9-28. ISSN 0073-134X
• Noe, R. & P. Hammerstein. 1994. Biological markets: supply and demand determine the effect of partner choice in cooperation, mutualism and mating. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 35:1-11 ISSN 0340-5443
• Paszkowski, U. 2006. Mutualism and parasitism: the yin and yang of plant symbioses. Current Opinion on Plant Biology 9 (4): 364-370. ISSN 1369-5266