Differences between Association and Competition

The living beings that share a habitat or ecosystem have different ways of relating to each other, either for mutual benefit or for just one. Since resources are always limited, be it territory, food or water, it is natural that there are forms of interrelation in which species cooperate (association) or on the contrary fight (competence).

The biological association

We will talk associationthen, although also cooperation, when two animal individuals allow themselves to work together in order to benefit each other, making better use of resources or providing an opportunity that they would not have separately. This type of beneficial relationship can occur intraspecific (between two members of the same species) or interspecific (between two members of different species).

A good example of association is the colonies, in which numerous individuals of the same species share a habitat, to such a degree that they are sometimes fused together. Thus, corals form colonies of identical individuals that cooperate to protect and feed; while the bees do the same, but in a hierarchical way and by dividing up the tasks, to keep the group alive and protected.

Association Types

Interspecies biological associations can be of the following types, judging by the specific relationship between the associated individuals:

commensalism. Both individuals live together, and one of them benefits from the other (for example, from his waste), without causing him any harm. For example: the remoras attached to a sharkwhich feed on their hunting spoils.
Symbiosis. In symbiosis both associated individuals benefit each other, either by cooperating to provide sustenance or mutual defense from predators. For example: lichen, union of a fungus and an alga to provide mutual protection and structure.
Parasitism. In this case, the mutual association is not so beneficial for one of the two individuals, since the other feeds on him or at his expense and can sometimes cause him harm. For example: ticks that drink the blood of cattle.
tenantism. In this case, one of the two individuals seeks protection from the other, without causing him harm and without being hurt by him either. For example: the clown fish that lives among the petals of the anemoneswithout being hurt by them but being safe from predators.

biological competition

On the contrary, it speaks of competence when the presence of two individuals in the same habitat causes the other to decrease the satisfaction of their needs, whether for food, water or territory. That is to say, that competition consists of the struggle or effort on the part of the animals involved to obtain benefits for themselves, so it is a case contrary to association of any kind.

Again, this competition can occur between species or within the same species and plays a fundamental role in the natural selectionvital to the theory of evolution.

The generational predominance of the fittest individuals (and their genetic material) over the less fit or failing in competition, then, will cause species in nature to compete with each other to adapt to the environment or, otherwise, to become extinct.

The same occurs within a species, since individuals will compete for access to resources and reproduction, which causes the most competent to reproduce more and better than the less fit.

types of competition

There are three fundamental forms of competition, according to the mechanism by which they are produced:

competition for interference. It occurs when an individual or a species interferes, that is, hinders the competition of the other or the other, through aggression or other methods, preventing access to food or habitat.
competition for exploitation. It occurs indirectly, when the use of a resource or a space to inhabit leaves others out, depriving them of their basic needs but without a direct relationship with the other individual or the other species.
obvious competition. It is the direct competition between two species or two individuals for survival, which may involve, for example, the competition to hide from a predator, leaving the other exposed.