Have you heard these two terms yet, in environmental science these two words plays vital role and they have unique meaning. Whenever we talk about ecosystem we must include Biotic and Abiotic. Why? How? Read carefully! !
Biotic
The living biomass/component of ecosystem is commonly referred as Biotic. The biotic components interact directly with other living organisms in the ecosystem. Mostly our ecosystem is balanced by the biotic components. If the living organisms are replaced by non-living than the ecosystem have no meaning.
Biotic comprises of : fungi, bacteria, plants, and all other living species.
Effects of Biotic factors:-
They affect directly or indirectly to living species within an environment. The biotic factors include disease, parasitism and predation. The smaller organisms spread disease by finding higher species as host some become parasite and some harmful. While the higher species kill the smaller ones and feeds on them. All these interaction you will find in food chain of ecosystem.
Abiotic
The non living matter present in the ecosystem is all Abiotic components. They don't play any role in biomass but they influence them most. They act like environmental factors on the biotic components. However Biotic and Abiotic are interdependet on each other.
Abiotic comprises of : water, soil, pH, temperature, sun light, and air etc.
Effects of Abiotic factors:-
Abiotic factors affects the ability of the species to survive and reproduce in the environment. Some times these factors are favorable and some time not. Abiotic factors limit the growth of weak organisms, those who have ability to pass in harsh environmental conditions can survive this limits and controls thier population within the environment.
Interaction between Biotic and Abiotic
The significance of Biotic and Abiotic factors comes with their interactions with each other. For an healthy ecosystem all the interactions need to be in a place.
A common example of abiotic interaction in plants. Water, sunlight and carbon dioxide are necessary for plants to grow. The biotic interaction is that plants use water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to create their own nourishment through a process called photosynthesis. On a larger scale, abiotic interactions refer to patterns such as climate and seasonality. Factors such as temperature, humidity and the presence or absence of seasons affect the ecosystem. For instance, some ecosystems experience cold winters with a lot of snow. An animal such as a fox within this ecosystem adapts to these abiotic factors by growing a thick, white-colored coat in the winter. Decomposers such as bacteria and fungi are examples of biotic interactions on such a scale. Decomposers function by breaking down dead organisms. This process returns the basic components of the organisms to the soil, allowing them to be reused within that ecosystem.
Thus the interactions of the biotic and abiotic factors makes a healthy and growing ecosystem.
Tags
Environment