![]() However, as the seedlings grow into established plants, they are likely to compete with their former benefactors for resources. ![]() Thus, the relationship between seedlings and their nurse plants is commensal. A nurse plant is one with an established canopy, beneath which germination and survival are more likely due to increased shade, soil moisture, and nutrients. For example, seed germination and survival in harsh environments is often higher under so-called nurse plants than on open ground. Strict categorization, however, is not possible for some complex species interactions. Epiphytes (plants growing on other plants, usually trees) have a commensal relationship with their host plant because the epiphyte benefits in some way ( e.g., by escaping competition with terrestrial plants or by gaining greater access to sunlight) while the host plant is apparently unaffected. Commensalism is an interaction in which one species benefits and the other species is unaffected.The plant benefits from the spread of pollen between flowers, while the pollinator receives some form of nourishment, either from nectar or the pollen itself. A familiar example of a mutualism is the relationship between flowering plants and their pollinators. Mutualism is an interaction between species that is beneficial to both.There are two basic categories of facilitative interactions: ![]() This article addresses both the mechanisms of facilitation and the increasing information available concerning the impacts of facilitation on community ecology.Ĭategories Nurse log harboring a western hemlock tree Facilitations can be categorized as mutualisms, in which both species benefit, or commensalisms, in which one species benefits and the other is unaffected. Species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neitherĮcological facilitation or probiosis describes species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither.
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