All of the examples given so far are of direct interactions: Species A eat Species B or Species B eats Species C. Also important are indirect interactions where, using the previous example, Species A eats so much of Species B that predation on Species C decreases and Species C increases in number. Thus, Species A indirectly benefits Species C. Pathways of indirect interactions can include all other forms of species interactions. To follow the sea star-mussel relationship, sea stars have an indirect negative effect on the diverse community that lives in the mussel bed because, by preying on mussels and decreasing mussel bed structure, those species that are facilitated by mussels are left homeless.