THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERACTION BETWEEN
LIVING ORGANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (BIOLOGICAL INTERACTION)
Biodiversity is the presence of a large variety of plants and animals in the
environment. Biological interaction is the interaction between living organisms
and the environment. There are various types of biological interactions such as
prey-predator, commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, and competition. There are
many reasons on why biological interaction is important.
One of the importances of biological interaction is that it maintains the food
web. A food web shows the food relationship among living organisms and most
food webs start with green plants. An example of a food web is that of grass
eaten by a grasshopper, a grasshopper eaten by a frog, a frog eaten by a snake
and an owl. If biological interaction doesn’t exist, many animals would die
from starvation as the food web wouldn’t exist.
Secondly, another reason on why biological interaction is important is because
it controls the population of living organisms. A predator is a living organism
that hunts other living organisms for food and a prey is a living organism that
is hunted by predators. For example, a lion is a predator and a zebra is its
prey. The population of living organisms would be overloaded if biological
interaction didn’t exist.
Thirdly, the importance of biological interaction is it allows the living
organisms to protect each other. This can be shown by mutualism which is an
interaction between two different species of living organisms in which both
parties benefit. A fungus and an alga live closely together to form a lichen,
together the fungus and the alga are able to survive in harsh environments
where neither organism would be able to live on its own. Many living organisms
would be destroyed if biological interaction didn’t exist.
Finally, another reason on why biological
interaction is important is because it provides the Earth with natural
resources. For example, the process of photosynthesis by green plants releases
oxygen which is inhaled by animals and humans. Another example would be when an
animal defecates, its faeces would be used by plants as fertilizers. These
natural resources are important as they play a role in maintaining the balance
of nature and they would seize to exist if biological interaction didn’t exist.
As a conclusion, these reasons prove that biological interaction, which is the
interaction between living organisms and the environment, is important.
