Figure 7.15

Examples of mutualism. (A) The hummingbird benefits from the concentrated energy provided by flower nectar. The flowering plant benefits from pollination by the hummingbird. (B) Insects such as this bumblebee (Bombus spp.) visit flowers for meals of pollen and nectar. Flowers receive pollination from the visiting insects. (C) A clownfish escapes its predators by living in the stinging tentacles of a sea anemone. It also finds food scraps from the anemone’s fish meals. The anemone is kept free of parasites, and is fed nutrient-rich feces, by the clownfish. The clownfish is an obligate mutualist because it needs the anemone to survive. The anemone, on the other hand, is a facultative mutualist: It does better with clownfish mutualists, but can survive without them.