BLOG 5 - INTERACTIONS

Biological interactions generally deal with the relationships and interactions of organisms with each other and its environment. Interaction is fundamental as every organism responds to a stimulus, and is indispensible for these interactions can dictate an organism’s survival (and existence in the long run); therefore, an organism’s interaction to its non-living and living environment is vital to it and makes this organism a part of an ecosystem. Interactions also make an ecosystem be what it is, an ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit.

The definition of a biological interaction in ecology is ‘the relationship between two species in an ecosystem’. It describes interactions in the ecosystem level, as this is the basic unit in ecology.  This relationship among two species need not always be direct; as components of an ecosystem are shared and can connect to one another, any factor may serve as an intermediary between two species’ interaction.

These biological interactions can be classified into two groups/categories. The first category refers to the quality of benefit or harm in terms of the fitness experienced by the organisms interacting, and includes different combinations of interactions. These are the interactions categorized by effect. The second category, the interactions by mechanism, is where the focus is on nature of the interaction between organisms in relation to their fitness.

            Interaction is a concept anyone can witness happening at every moment. Our  dog Gagay has been infested with ticks and fleas for five months now, and I observed the concept of parasitism infesting our pet, walking around the house, always scratching using his hind leg. One tick was situated around Gagay’s ear area and it stayed there for a long time until it grew to be bigger than usual. The ticks had taken in much blood and Gagay was irritated all day long.

                                                                  Our Pet  "Gagay"

            For vegetarians like one of my students who will always share to me that she sees predation happening everyday. As she sees her friends eat meat, she will tell me that “they consume another living species”. This again happened during the weekend last week when the whole batch of my students had an overnight activity in Calauan, Laguna.  As we took our breakfast, lunch and dinner I would always look at her because I knew she ate the vegetable dish only. I sounded “bad” when I whispered to her that “as you eat vegetables, you exhibit herbivory, consuming autotroph”. She just laughed anyway. Sometimes I can’t help but react but I have to understand her because she is a vegetarian.

            To speak in greater depth, a very prominent example of parasitism I observe is when some of my students are dependent on other classmates for assignments, drills and exercises. Of course, I never tolerate that but the reality is that when their papers are checked, I can always see exactly the same answers and mistakes. The one who shares the assignment (that will depend on the person if he/she will count it as being negatively affected), and the parasite-classmate gains a point. This happens all the time, I suppose.

            As I snorkeled in Puerto Galera once (with my family), I saw schools of different fishes rush to the bread crumbs being fed to them, and felt the desperation of each fish to get even the smallest crumb. In Palawan when I attended the BIOTA conference last year, I could observe the desperation of opportunistic monkeys in obtaining food. I teased two monkeys with the chocolate I held in my hand. I thought at first they would do nothing but stare, but after I took a picture of them and turned around, one monkey jumped and grabbed the chocolate from my hand! I saw the jealous look of the monkey that was with it.

In a field trip at the Manila Ocean Park, I observed in their large aquarium a very beautiful, bizarre symbiosis. Who knew a fish and a giant turtle could be best friends? Their symbiotic relationship was surprising, because I observed them circling around the whole aquarium together, with the fish on top of the turtle’s back all throughout their movement. After around two rounds, I saw the fish, this time, beneath the turtle, as if carrying it on its back! This shows a very cute exhibition of commensalism.

In the forestry staff housing when I visited a friend, I observed much biodiversity: ranging from the smallest of ants, cockroaches, fireflies, gigantic spiders to the largest of lizards on the ceiling. And all are interacting at that very moment.

BLOG 4 - HABITAT USE

As I learned from the article by Krausmann, habitats are defined as the resources and conditions present in an area or the sum of the specific resources needed by organisms (Thomas 1979) that produce occupancy, including survival and reproduction, by a given organism.  Such resources include food, cover, water, and special factors (Leopold 1933).  It follows that wherever an organism is provided with resources that allow it to survive, that is habitat. 

A few months back, along Puypuy, Bay, Laguna area, everybody was so excited to see the newly-constructed BASF Agricultural Research Foundation Research Facility. From a manufacturer of the first synthetic dyes in 1865, BASF has developed into a leading global chemical company producing a comprehensive range of chemical products. BASF's chemicals products are used in a wide range of industries, e.g. agriculture, textile, leather, automotive, construction, electrical appliances and electronics, paper, food, feed, cosmetics, printing and packaging. Particularly in Bay, Laguna, the Research facility was constructed to serve as the laboratory for testing pesticides/insecticides. The residents of Puypuy can not complain at all since the new building is already there and without saying a word, they just breathe the bad air brought about by the smell of the pesticide. This bad smell or air pollution, may cause upper respiratory infection or perhaps, aggravate the condition of some residents with asthma.  Not only that, but the possible leak of the pesticide in the water pipes of the baranggay may easily affect the health of all the residents living near the area. Also, upon application of the pesticide, foreign or non-native plant and animal species, AKA exotic species may be  introduced in the area which can compete with and even replace the original, native species there. This creation of a new environment for exotic species may even lead to a worse effect because the species may even give more harm to the residents of the baranggay. The key concept I apply here which I learned from one of the modules I have read is habitat use.

As defined in Krausmann’s article, “habitat use is the way an animal uses the physical and biological resources in a habitat”. For sure, the introduction of new species in the area via the use of pesticides, will give the species a new habitat where these species can freely evolve and adapt. However, their introduction will greatly affect all the other species thriving in the area. For one, these new species will compete simultaneously with the original species in terms of the use of physical and biological resources such as food, home, etc. As mentioned in the article, habitat may be used for foraging, cover, nesting, escape, denning, or other life history traits.  An area used for foraging may be comprised of  the same physical characteristics used for cover, denning, or both (Litvaitis et al. 1996). The effect will be the decreased percentage of survival and reproduction of the original species. Also, the introduction of the new species is based on their habitat selection because the environment the species will use as a habitat provides them for cover availability, forage quality and quantity, and resting or denning sites.

Having realized the effect of the facility on the people, I found myself very enthusiastic to possibly work on making a research proposal on the Impact Assessment of the facility. And perhaps, whatever good results I obtain, I will furnish the local government of Bay a copy so that the issue/problem may be addressed properly. Of course, this is a wishful thinking having to consider the budget in accomplishing the report.