Mutualism

For another use of the term see Mutualism (economic theory).

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In biology, mutualism is an interaction between two species in which both species derive benefit. Mutualisms can be lifelong interactions involving close physical and biochemical contact (known as symbiosis) such as those between trees and mycorrhizal fungi; they can also be briefer, non-symbiotic interactions, such as those between flowering plants and pollinators. Mutualisms may also be obligatory or non-obligatory (facultative). For example, bacteria known as rhizobia can reproduce either in the soil or in (usually) mutualistic symbiosis with legume plants. Mycorrhizal fungi, on the other hand, can be totally dependent on their plant hosts. Microbes often band together for mutual benefit in biofilms to break down solid food sources as in rusticles.

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Species: In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. Species are "groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups" (however, see other definitions of species below)....

Symbiosis: Symbiosis (pl. symbioses) (from the Greek words syn = con/plus and biono = living) is an interaction between two organisms living together in more or less intimate association or even the merging of two dissimilar organisms....

Mycorrhiza: A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural form mycorrhizae meaning "fungus roots") is a distinct type of root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant. Different sorts of fungal structures are found in mycorrhizal trees and in...