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Name: Alex
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Question:
How does two organisms work together ?

Replies:
The Wikipedia entry on symbiosis is a fair start to a question much too complex to answer here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis

On this site the following types of symbiosis are defined

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent591k/symbiosis.html

Symbiosis is a close ecological relationship between the individuals of two (or more) different species. Sometimes a symbiotic relationship benefits both species, sometimes one species benefits at the other's expense, and in other cases neither species benefits.

Ecologists use a different term for each type of symbiotic relationship:

Mutualism
-- both species benefit

Commensalism
-- one species benefits, the other is unaffected

Parasitism
-- one species benefits, the other is harmed

Competition
-- neither species benefits

Neutralism
-- both species are unaffected

J. Elliott

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