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The interaction grid on the previous page makes everything look neat and tidy and logical. But the outcome of an interaction can be different at different times and places.

The new paradigm for these interactions shows potentially changing positions on a continuously varying scale:

One of many possible continua; redrawn from Bronstein 1994.

The location of a particular interaction can slide up and down the continuum, depending on the circumstances operating at a particular place and time. Thus, the outcome of the interaction is conditional on current ecological conditions.

This shifting balance is thought by many to be far more representative of biological reality than the "average" outcome of an interaction.

Want more info? Check out some good links about interspecific interactions.

Next: Ants and Aphids: a classic mutualism