section_path: Other species/Interspecies
section_name: Interspecies
paragraph_text: Interspecies
  
  Most communication happens between members within a species as intraspecies communication. This is because the purpose of communication is usually some form of cooperation. Cooperation happens mostly within a species while different species are often in conflict with each other by competing over resources. However, there are also some forms of interspecies communication. This occurs especially for symbiotic relations and significantly less for parasitic or predator-prey relations.
  
  Interspecies communication plays a key role for plants that depend on external agents for reproduction. For example, flowers need insects for pollination and provide resources like nectar and other rewards in return. They use communication to signal their benefits and attract visitors by using distinctive colors and symmetrical shapes to stand out from their surroundings. This form of advertisement is necessary since flowers compete with each other for visitors. Many fruit-bearing plants rely on plant-to-animal communication to disperse their seeds and move them to a favorable location. This happens by providing nutritious fruits to animals. The seeds are eaten together with the fruit and are later excreted at a different location. Communication makes animals aware of where the fruits are and whether they are ripe. For many fruits, this happens through their color: they have an inconspicuous green color until they ripen and take on a new color that stands in visual contrast to the environment. Another example of interspecies communication is found in the ant-plant relation. It concerns, for instance, the selection of seeds by ants for their ant gardens and the pruning of exogenous vegetation as well as plant protection by ants.
  
  Some animal species also engage in interspecies communication, like apes, whales, dolphins, elephants, and dogs. For example, different species of monkeys use common signals to cooperate when threatened by a common predator. Humans engage in interspecies communication when interacting with pets and working animals. For instance, acoustic signals play a central role in communication with dogs. Dogs can learn to react to various commands, like "sit" and "come". They can even be trained to respond to short syntactic combinations, like "bring X" or "put X in a box". They also react to the pitch and frequency of the human voice to detect emotions, dominance, and uncertainty. Dogs use a range of behavioral patterns to convey their emotions to humans, for example, in regard to aggressiveness, fearfulness, and playfulness.