In ecology, biotic and abiotic factors encompass all the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem. Biotic factors pertain to living organisms and their relationships.
Abiotic factors are the non-living components of the ecosystem, including sunlight, water, temperature, wind, and nutrients. Interactions between biotic and abiotic factors ripple through an ecosystem. Plants, for example, use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce energy and grow, releasing oxygen and—directly or indirectly—serving as a food source for other organisms.
When they die, living organisms break back down into abiotic components. Changes in a biotic factor, such as a species population increase, or an abiotic factor, such as a decrease in precipitation, can therefore affect the entire ecosystem. Ecologists use biotic and abiotic factors to predict population changes and ecological events. By investigating how these factors interact, ecologists can gauge what is happening in an ecosystem over time. Ecologists may conduct population surveys to see whether the number or density of a given species is changing, how quickly it is changing, and why.
By understanding the biotic and abiotic factors that impact the species, they can find explanations for population declines or increases. In addition, they may be able to predict ecological events like species die-offs, over-population, changes in growth rates, and disease outbreaks.
Biotic factors include interactions between organisms, like disease, predation, parasitism, and competition among species or within a single species. In addition, living organisms themselves are biotic factors.
They fall into three main categories: producers, consumers, and decomposers. Abiotic factors are the non-living components of the ecosystem, including its chemical and physical factors. Abiotic factors influence other abiotic factors. In addition, they have profound impacts on the variety and abundance of life in an ecosystem, whether on land or in water.
Below is a list of some of the most significant abiotic factors. Composed of both biotic and abiotic components , soil is an interesting case. Soil filters and stores water and anchors the roots of plants. It contains nutrient minerals and gases, as well as millions of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and single-celled organisms called archaea.
Factors in an ecosystem that inhibit biotic operations like population growth are called limiting factors. Consider the difference between life in ocean surface waters and a deep ocean ecosystem 13, feet below. The phytoplankton form the base of a vast food web that a multitude of other species depend on, from dolphins and fish to the diverse organisms that compose coral reefs. Waters are warmer near the surface, and there is more oxygen. These abiotic factors of sunlight, oxygen, and temperature, among others, affect the characteristics and behavior of organisms in the entire ecosystem.
By contrast, little to no sunlight permeates deep ocean waters; the only light is produced by the creatures that live there. At these depths, organisms must be adapted to extreme pressure, which is more than times greater than surface waters. Life here must withstand temperatures close to freezing. There is less food and less oxygen, which requires slower metabolisms. In this ecosystem, the low levels of light, oxygen, and food, along with cold water temperatures, are limiting factors that constrain the organisms that live here.
Abiotic factors have profound impacts on the variety and abundance of life in an ecosystem, whether in water or on land. But it works both ways: Biotic factors can also alter abiotic factors. What are some examples of abiotic factors? What is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors? What are biotic factors in ecology? What are the biotic factors in the everglades? What are some Biotic and Abiotic Factors for a seal?
Is fire an abiotic factor? What are the abiotic factors in the pond ecosystem? How can biotic and abiotic factors work together to control a population's growth? What are the abiotic factors of the coniferous forest? Question 9e3f1.
What are the components of the punctuated equilibrium hypothesis? But what exactly are these factors? How do they impact an ecosystem, and do changes in abiotic and biotic factors change the ecosystem? An ecosystem depends on the interactions of the living and nonliving elements in the system.
The abiotic factors in an ecosystem are all the nonliving elements air, water, soil, temperature while the biotic factors are all the living organisms in that ecosystem. In an ecosystem, biotic factors include all the living parts of the ecosystem.
A healthy woodland ecosystem contains producers like grasses and trees, as well as consumers ranging from mice and rabbits to hawks and bears. The biotic components of an ecosystem also encompass decomposers like fungus and bacteria. A healthy aquatic ecosystem includes producers like algae and phytoplankton, consumers like zooplankton and fish, and decomposers like bacteria. Specific biotic categories include:. Plants: Most ecosystems depend on plants to perform photosynthesis, making food from water and carbon dioxide in the ecosystem.
In ponds, lakes and the ocean, many of the plants are grasses, algae or tiny phytoplankton floating on or near the surface. Also in this category are the chemosynthetic bacteria that live at deep ocean vents, which form the base of that food chain. Animals: First-order consumers like mice, rabbits and seed-eating birds as well as zooplankton, snails, mussels, sea urchins, ducks and black sharks eat the plants and algae. Predators like coyotes, bobcats, bears, killer whales and tiger sharks eat first-order consumers.
Omnivores like bears and rotifers nearly microscopic aquatic animals eat both plants and animals. Fungi: Fungi like mushrooms and slime molds feed off the bodies of living hosts or break down the remains of once-living organisms. Fungi serve an important role in the ecosystem as decomposers.
Protists: Protists generally are one-celled microscopic organisms, and they are sometimes overlooked in the ecosystem. Plant-like protists use photosynthesis, so they are producers.
Animal-like protists such as paramecia and amoebas eat bacteria and smaller protists, so they form part of the food chain. Fungus-like protists often serve as decomposers in the ecosystem. Bacteria: In deep-sea vents, chemosynthetic bacteria fill the role of producers in the food chain.
Bacteria act as decomposers, breaking down dead organisms to release nutrients. Bacteria also serve as food for other organisms. The abiotic factors in an ecosystem include all the nonliving elements of the ecosystem.
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