http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210243/Science%20Station/How%20living%20things%20interact%20with%20their%20
environment/relationship%20of%20biotic%20and%20abiotic%20factors.htm
Biotic Factors
Biotic, meaning of or related to life, are living factors. Plants, animals, fungi, protist and bacteria are all biotic or living
factors.
Abiotic Factors
Abiotic, meaning not alive, are nonliving factors that affect living organisms. Environmental factors such habitat (pond,
lake, ocean, desert, mountain) or weather such as temperature, cloud cover, rain, snow, hurricanes, etc. are abiotic
factors.
Ecosystem
Biotic and abiotic factors combine to create a system or more precisely, an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of
living and nonliving things considered as a unit.
http://regentsprep.org/regents/biology/units/ecology/biotic.cfm
Abiotic Factors
Abiotic factors are those non-living physical and chemical factors which affect the ability of organisms to
survive and reproduce.
Some Abiotic Factors
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light intensity
temperature range
type of soil or
rock
pH level
(acidity or
alkalinity)
water availability
dissolved gases
level of pollutant
Abiotic factors vary in the environment and determining the types and numbers of organisms that exist in that
environment. Factors which determine the types and numbers of organisms of a species in an ecosystem are called
limiting factors. Many limiting factors restrict the growth of populations in nature. An example of this would include low
annual average temperature average common to the Arctic restricts the growth of trees, as the subsoil is permanently
frozen.
Biotic Factors
Biotic factors are all the living things or their materials that directly or indirectly affect an organism in its environment.
This would include organisms, their presence, parts, interaction, and wastes. Factors related to interaction such as
parasitism, disease, and predation (one animal eating another) are also classified as biotic factors.
Some Biotic Factors
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organisms & wastes
parasitism
disease
predation
Carrying Capacity
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms the resources of an ecosystem can support. The carrying
capacity of the environment is limited by the available abiotic and biotic resources or pressures (limiting factors), as well
as the ability of ecosystems to recycle the residue of dead organisms through the activities of bacteria and fungi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiotic_component
In biology, abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment. Abiotic phenomena
underlie all of biology. Abiotic factors, while generally downplayed, can have enormous impact on evolution. Abiotic
components are aspects of geodiversity.
From the viewpoint of biology, abiotic influences may be classified as light or more generally radiation, temperature,
water, the chemical surrounding composed of the terrestrial atmospheric gases, as well as soil. The macroscopic climate
often influences each of the above. Not to mention pressure and even sound waves if working with marine, or deep
underground, biome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic_component
Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. They are, any living component that affects another
organism. Such things include animals which consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism
consumes. As opposed to abiotic components (non-living components of an organism's environment, such as
temperature, light, moisture, air currents, etc.), biotic components are the living components of an organism's
environment, such as predators and prey.