Differences between Association and Competition

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

The biological association

We will talk association, then, although also of cooperation, when two animal individuals allow each other to work together in order to benefit each other, taking better advantage 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 habitat, to the degree that they are sometimes bodily fused. Thus, corals form colonies of identical individuals that cooperate to protect and feed themselves; while bees do the same, but in a hierarchical way and by dividing the tasks, to keep the whole alive and protected.

Association types

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

Biological competition

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

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

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

The same occurs within a species, as individuals will compete for access to resources and to 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 occur:

Differences between association and competition

1. In association both individuals or species cooperate and benefit more or less, while in competition one of the two will only benefit.
2. Association allows the development of colonies and complex modes of interaction, while competition presses to survive or perish and rather drives the engine of selection and discard.
3. The association induces to share space and resources, while competition to fight for them.
4. Association allows mutual survival, while competition leads to the extinction of one of the competitors.

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