100 Examples of Biotic and Abiotic Factors

The biotic factors and the abiotic factors They are the two types of elements or components that are part of a natural ecosystem and that interact with each other.

  • Biotic factors. They are the living components of ecosystems, that is, living beings, such as animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, among others. For example: the eagle, the human being, the sunflower. They are usually classified as: organisms that produce their own food (vegetables), organisms that consume food already produced (animals) and decomposers of dead organisms (some fungi and bacteria).
  • abiotic factors. They are all those elements that constitute the physical-chemical characteristics of an ecosystem, therefore, they are elements that lack life. For example: air, humidity, precipitation. These factors are what allow life in a certain ecosystem and influence the survival of the biotic factors that inhabit it. They can be physical, when it comes to forces that act on an ecosystem (such as sunlight or atmospheric pressure) and chemicals, when it comes to reactions that occur within an ecosystem (such as soil salinity or the presence of oxygen in the air).

All ecosystems are made up of biotic and abiotic factors and it is these elements that configure the characteristics of each type of ecosystem. Living beings (also called biocenosis) depend on abiotic factors (also called biotopes) because abiotic elements are the ones that give the characteristics to the physical space in which living individuals develop. For example: Within a desert ecosystem, only plant species that support the lack of water will survive.

The factors of an ecosystem interact with each other and modify each other. If a biotic or abiotic factor disappears from a certain ecosystem, other factors will also change.

All organisms in the plant kingdom are biotic factors.

Examples of biotic factors

Abeto Águila Bacillus licheniformis Cactus Ardilla Bacillus megaterium Ciprés Ballena Bacillus mycoides Eucalipto Delfín Copica escarlata Girasol Elefante Escherichia coli Helecho Gallina Euglenófitos Lechuga Gorrión Hongo Reishi Manzano León Levadura Margarita Loro Mycobacterium tuberculosis Orquídea Pingüino Noctiluca Pino Rana Paramecio Roble Ser humano Phyllopharyngea Tulipán Vaca Prostomatea Violeta Víbora de rattlesnake Treponema pallidum

Examples of Abiotic Factors

Soil acidity or alkalinity (pH) Phosphorus Precipitation Water Humidity Atmospheric pressure Air Sunlight Ultraviolet radiation Sulfur Mercury Relief Calcium Nickel Rocks Composition of the Earth’s atmosphere Nutrients Salinity Day length Oxygen Soil Geographic space Ozone Temperature Tin Silver Uranium Fluorine Potassium Wind

The non-living components of the soil are abiotic factors.

References

  • Biology: Solomon E., Berg L., Martin D. (2013) 9th Edition. Editorial Cengage Learning.
  • Ecology I: Introduction. Organisms and populations. Escolástico León C., Cabildo Miranda M. del P., Claramunt Vallespí RM, Claramunt Vallespí T. (2013) Digital edition. National University of Distance Education.

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