Biotic and Abiotic Factors

An interdependent

relationship

5 levels of the Environment

• When talking about Ecology, it is important to arrange the scope of discussion.

• In order to organize our discussion, we classify the environment from the most specific to most broad.

Specific: The Organism

When talking about the organism, we are talking about a SINGLE animal, plant, or other organism. It is a biotic factor of the environment.

Population

• Population: group of individuals belonging to the same species that inhabit a specific geographic location at a specific point in time

Community

• A community is the set of all populations that inhabit a certain area.

Ecosystem

• The ecosystem is the community of biotic factors AND all the abiotic factors of the area.

Biosphere

• The biosphere is the part of Earth where life exists. The biosphere is another way to refer to the Earth.

BIOTIC FACTORS• Biotic Factors

Biotic factors are living factors. Anything living OR THAT WAS ONCE LIVING is considered a biotic factor.

                                                                   

Examples of Biotic Factors

• Plants• Animals• Fungi (like

mushrooms)• Protist (like

paramecium, amoeba, and euglena)

• Bacteria

ABIOTIC FACTORS• Abiotic Factors

Abiotic, meaning not alive, are nonliving factors that affect living organisms.

Examples of Abiotic Factors

• Rain• Snow• Temperature• Water• Rocks• pH of soil• Pollution

•Biotic and abiotic factors are interrelated. One factor affects the other.

For example, if the temperature drastically changes in an area, it will impact the plants and animals

that can live there.

Limiting Factor Principle

• Too much or too little of any abiotic factor can limit growth of population, even if all the other factors are at optimum (favorable) range of tolerance.