noun
- Plural of commensalism; relationships between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed.
Usage: biology; ecology
Examples
- Commensalisms are common in nature, such as when a bird builds a nest in a tree without damaging it.
- The study of commensalisms helps ecologists understand how different species coexist in ecosystems.
- Remoras attaching to sharks represent one of the classic examples of commensalisms in marine biology.
- Unlike parasitisms, commensalisms do not reduce the fitness of the host organism.
- Scientists classify many symbiotic relationships as commensalisms when only one partner gains an advantage.