Sunday, October 17, 2010

Commensalism

In this picture, there is an example of a commensalism type relationship.  It is a picture of moss growing on a tree.  This is an example of commensalism because the moss is growing on a tree and the tree is not helped nor harmed by the moss growing on the tree. Commensalism is a relationship in which one species benefits and the other species is neither helped nor harmed.  In this picture, the species that is benefiting is the moss and the species that is neither helped nor harmed is the tree. The moss is benefiting in this relationship because it needs a damp and shady location to grow.  The tree is not getting either harmed nor helped because the moss does not harm the tree when it grows on it.