Interdependence

Species are linked in other ways too: an insect may pollinate a flowering plant, an animal may disperse its seeds, and plants may provide shelter for animals. These links are interdependence. If one species is removed, the effects can spread through the community.

Each organism needs resources to survive and reproduce, and many of those resources are supplied by other species. This reliance between species is called interdependence.

This dependence between organisms is called interdependence. It can be direct, such as a fox depending on rabbits for food, or indirect. For example, a change in a plant population may affect herbivores first and then the predators that eat those herbivores.

Interdependence is the relationship in which organisms rely on other organisms for resources or processes needed for survival or reproduction. Feeding is one important example. Producers such as plants make biomass, herbivores eat producers, and predators eat other consumers.