Invasive Species: Relationship Between Buffalo And African Buffalo

Invasive species are organisms that adapt to living outside of their natural habitat (Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, Reece, & Jackson, 2014). Scientists from the Long Island Sound studied invasive species and determined that they were more likely to survive in lower density communities. One reason invasive species are able to survive in a new area is that they lack the natural predators of their original habitat to control their population (Daemplfe, 2016). This allows them to reproduce at a higher rate. Another key advantage of an invasive species in a new region is that they are able to utilize the full resources currently available to them. They have full access to food, space, and water until the population continues to grow and

Commensalism is a type of symbiosis that describes the relationship between two organisms when one organism benefits from the interaction and the other is unharmed. An example of commensalism relationship can be found between the cattle egrets and African Buffalo (Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, Reece, & Jackson, 2014). The cattle egrets feed on the insects that are found directly on the African Buffalo and also the insects that are stirred from the grass by the movement of the buffalo. I do believe that the relationship between the African Buffalo and cattle egrets is form of commensalism. The cattle egrets are able to catch insects for food without any detrimental harm to the African Buffalo. It might even be a benefit to the buffalo because the cattle egrets limit the number of insects on the buffalo. This could prevent the number of insect bites the buffalo

Population density describes the number of organisms for every area of land within an ecosystem. Competition between organisms happens because they are trying to survive on the same resources. Population size and population density differ from each other when predicting the competition and resource use in a population because the population density would allow for a higher level of competition than the population size. Population density focuses on the number of organisms per area of land which would be higher because the organisms are more contained. While with the total population size, the organisms would be more spread out. The resources and space available would be greatly limited in a smaller area of land with a higher population of organisms. This would also be the same when predicting the relationship the organisms would have with each other. Population size would allow for a more cohesive relationship because there is more space to inhabit. Whereas with limited habit space, the organisms would compete to survive if the population density was