What term describes a relationship where both organisms benefit?

Mutualism describes a relationship where both organisms benefit from each other. In these interactions, the species involved gain advantages that can include access to resources, protection, or increased reproductive success. For example, in a mutualistic relationship between bees and flowering plants, bees receive nectar as a food source while simultaneously aiding in the pollination of the plants, facilitating their reproduction.

While symbiosis is a broader term that includes any close biological interaction between two different organisms, it can encompass mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism, not all of which are mutually beneficial. Commensalism describes a relationship where one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. Parasitism, on the other hand, describes a relationship where one organism benefits at the expense of the other. Thus, mutualism is the most precise term for relationships in which both organisms derive benefits.