Symbiotic Relationships
The three types of symbiotic relationships are mutualism, parasitism, and commensalim. Mutulualism is where both the organisms benefit from each other. One of the most recognized tundra plants is lichens. Lichens are organisms that are usually made up of a fungus and a green alga. The alga uses photosynthesis and so it reduces carbon dioxide into sugars that feeds the fungus as well. The fungal counterpart in the meantime, helps provide protection to the alga by retaining water and helping in obtaining minerals from substrate. Therefore, both the fungus and the green alga benefit from this relation. Parasitism is a relation between two organisms where one organism benefits whereas the other one is at a loss in the relation. Commensalim is when two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm. The caribou or reindeers tend to feed on lichens when the weather is at its worst and coldest, as more often than not, this is the only food available to them, can give them energy and heat. So, when the caribou is on the lookout for food, the arctic fox follows it. The caribou digs the ground snow to find food, it digs up the soil and slightly exposes, or at least brings closer to the surface some of the subnivean mammals, with whom the arctic fox shares a predator prey relationships in the tundra. So, once the caribou is done with its hunting, the arctic fox then follows and digs further deep and gets its food in the form of the mammals.The carribou is unaffected by the arctic fox.