Why living things depend on each other?

In what ways do animals depend on plants?

Some of the food you have eaten comes directly from plants. Others may come from animals. Many of these animals, in turn, feed on plants.

Many animals depend directly or indirectly on plants for food. Plants provide the animals with energy and nutrients. Without plants, these animals will die.

Besides food, animals depend on plants for shelter and protection. Trees, for example, can be habitats for animals such as birds and ants. They provide shelter and protection to these animals.

As you have seen, animals are dependent on plants for food, shelter and protection.

In what ways do plants depend on animals?

Plants can make their own food. They do not depend on animals for food. However, to grow healthily, they need nutrients from the soil or water in which they grow.

When animals die, they are broken down into simpler substances by decomposers such as bacteria and fungi. These simpler substances such as mineral salts are nutrients for the plants.

This dead animal is broken down by decomposers into simpler substances which are nutrients for plants.

The plants absorb these nutrients through their roots for healthy growth, in this way, nutrients stored in the bodies of animals are recycled when the animals die.

Animal wastes can be broken down by decomposers too. They are a source of nutrients for plants as well!

Flowering plants depend on animals for reproduction as well. In the reproduction of flowering plants, pollen from the male parts of flowers has to be transferred to the female parts of flowers. This process is called pollination. Some animals, especially insects, help in pollination.

Besides pollination, some animals help in the dispersal of seeds. Seeds are dispersed or scattered far away from the parent plants or other seeds to prevent overcrowding so that the young plants which develop from the seeds do not need to compete for light, water and nutrients.

If you have eaten a mango and thrown way the seed in soil, you are helping to disperse the seed.

Plants whose seeds are dispersed by animals usually have fruits which are juicy and fleshy, or have hair like structures of hooks which will stick on to the hair or fur of animals.

Fruit bat feeding on mango

Plants depend on animals for nutrients. Some flowering plants depend on animals for pollination and dispersal of seeds. Animals, in turn, depend on plants for food, shelter and protection.

In other words, animals and plants depend on one another to survive. We say that they are interdependent.