Question

Two individuals from the same species compete for a mate. Which of the following describes this interaction?

abiotic; intraspecific competition
biotic; intraspecific competition
abiotic; mutualism
biotic; commensalism
i need an answer quick, my mom is very eager to know.

Answer 1

Biotic interactions are interactions that occur between living things. These interactions can include predator/prey relationships, plant/herbivore relationships, competition, and symbiosis.

Abiotic interactions occur between organisms and their specific environments. This includes temperature, light, salinity, pH, nutrients, wind exposure, etc.

Mutualism is when two organisms of different species interact; this results in each individual benefiting from the relationship.

Commensalism is the relationship between two organisms where one of the benefits with no direct effect to the other.

In this situation, since they are two organisms of the SAME species, commensalism and mutualism are immediately out of the question. Abiotic intraspecific competition is not an option either, because abiotic interactions occur between an organism and its environment.

So, after eliminating those three, the only answer left for this is biotic intraspecific competition. Remember, biotic interactions occur between two organisms, and since it's intraspecific, that means it occurs within the SAME species.

Hope that helped! :)