abiotic factor definition
Biotic components are living organisms in an ecosystem. A biotic factor is a living organism that affects another organism in its ecosystem. Examples include plants and animals that the organism consumes as food, and animals that consume the organism. Biotic factors are factors resulting from the activities of a living thing or any living component in an environment, such as the actions of an organism affecting the life of anothers organism. Paul Andersen differentiates between biotic and abiotic factors. He explains how both abiotic and biotic factors can affect organisms at the level of the cell, the population and even the ecosystem. The complexities of biofilms, predator-prey relationships, and food webs are given as illustrative examples. Abiotic Factors: : are non-living physical and chemical elements of an environment. These factors are important for the survival of the organisms of that environment. (See biotic factors. ). Biotic factor. Definition. noun, plural: biotic factors. A factor created by a living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism, for example a predator consuming its prey. Supplement. For example, blue rice coral is a biotic factor of the marine environment surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. The symbiotic algae and the planktonic animals that provide the coral with nutrients are also biotic factors. For more, go to: 1  http://library.thinkquest.org/. For instance, in a quail’s environment, the biotic factors are the living elements of the environment such as the quail’s prey like insects, seeds, etc. and the quail’s predators like coyotes. Word origin: Compare: abiotic factor. Abiotic factors refer to non-living physical and chemical elements in the ecosystem. Abiotic resources are usually obtained from the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Examples of abiotic factors are water, air, soil, sunlight, and minerals. Biotic factors are living or once-living organisms in the ecosystem. These are obtained from the biosphere and are capable of reproduction. Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. A biotic factor is any living component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism consumes. Each biotic factor needs energy to do work and food for proper growth. Biotic factors include human influence. Abiotic Factor. Any factor or component that may be found in a living system which may be required by or is integral to the system, but is not itself capable of life, e.g., physical factors, including light, temperature, atmospheric gases, and inorganic chemicals, and geological factors, such as rocks and minerals.
Non-living physical and chemical elements of an environment.