How Do Plants & Animals Depend on Each Other?

Giraffes are herbivores that depend on plants as their sole food source.
••• Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

The global ecosystem depends on both plants and animals to survive -- and as part of that ecosystem, plants and animals need each other. Although their symbiotic relationship is sometimes subtle, at other times their impact on one another is striking.

Function

Bees pollinate flowers.
••• Andy Sotiriou/Photodisc/Getty Images

Plants and animals benefit each other as members of food chains and ecosystems. For instance, flowering plants rely on bees and hummingbirds to pollinate them, while animals eat plants and sometimes make homes in them. When animals die and decompose, they enrich the soil with nitrates that stimulate plant growth.

Symbiosis

Flowering plants rely on hummingbirds to pollinate them.
••• Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images

Many relationships between plants and animals are mutually beneficial. For instance, flowers need hummingbirds to pollinate them, just as hummingbirds need the flowers' nectar to refuel.

Global Significance

If a species goes extinct, many others suffer.
••• Anup Shah/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Plants provide a global benefit to animals by releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Although pollination and food chains affect only a few local plants and animals, they frequently overlap to form larger food webs that contain hundreds or even thousands of wildlife species. This global significance means that when one plant or animal goes extinct, many others suffer as a result.

Related Articles

The Effects of Cutting Down Trees on the Ecosystem
What Are the Causes of the Destruction of Ecosystem?
Greenhouse Effects on Animals
Interactions in the Ecosystem
Animals Losing Their Homes in the Rainforest
Natural Changes That Can Affect an Ecosystem
How to Convert Pounds Per Square Foot to PSI
How to Calculate an Equivalent Fraction
Why Is the Food Web Important?
How to Describe the Parts of an Ecosystem
What Foods Do Animals Eat in the Tundra?
The Average Rainfall in a Fresh Water Ecosystem
How to Make a Difference With Global Warming
Animals Found in the Tropical Evergreen Forest
What Are Three Categories of Organisms in the Ecosystem?
What Are the Trophic Levels in the Savanna?
What Are the Functions of Photosynthesis?
What Is the Prey in an Ecosystem?
How to Convert Nautical Knots to Miles
What is a Biogeochemical Cycle?

Dont Go!

We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!