Biotic components are all the plants, animals, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria that in one way or another interact in a given physical space.
While, Abiotic components are the conditions of light, temperature, minerals, soil, and water, among others, found in a physical space that determine the existence of living beings.
Both biotic and abiotic factors make up the ecosystem. In ecology, the ecosystem is the set of communities of living beings that interact with each other and the elements of the environment that surrounds them.
Let’s imagine for a moment that an ecosystem is a play. The biotic factors/components are the participants: actors, directors, audience, and technicians. On the other hand, the abiotic factors will be the theater environment, the stage, the seats, and the lighting.
Difference Between Biotic And Abiotic Components
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Biotic Components |
Abiotic Components |
| These are Biological components of the ecosystem | These are the Physical and chemical components of the ecosystem |
| They are Plants, Animals, Mushrooms, protozoa, and bacteria. | They are Luz, Temperature, Aire, pH, and minerals. |
| Biotic Factors are classified as producers, consumers, and decomposers. | Abiotic Components are classified as chemicals, Physicists |
Some of the best examples are:
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Some of the best examples are:
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Biotic Components
They are biological components of the ecosystem. It consists of all living organisms and microorganisms, such as plants, animals, and bacteria, found in a defined region and interacting with each other.
We can find biotic components among:
- Producer beings: plants that produce their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.
- Consumer beings: The animals that have to feed on plants (herbivores) or other animals (carnivores).
- Decomposing beings: The organisms that transform organic compounds into inorganic ones, such as fungi and bacteria, and obtain their nutrients from them.
Abiotic Component
Abiotic components are nonliving factors that affect organisms such as Temperature, light intensity, water, soil ph and mineral content, and gases.
We can distinguish two classes of abiotic factors:
- Physical: includes all those elements that are part of the environment and that are not consumed, such as light and its intensity, the amount of rain or snow that falls in a certain place and time, the wind, the type of soil.
- Chemicals: include major nutrients that can be found in air, water, or soil, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, iron, copper, calcium, and salts.
Abiotic factors determine the survival of species. For example, seed germination is favored between 20ºC and 30ºC. At these temperatures, plants also grow faster.
