what are biotic and abiotic factors explain in brief ?
Abiotic factors are the non-living, physico - chemical factors such as air, water, soil and the basic elements and compounds of the environment. These factors affect the ability of organisms to survive and reproduce.
The categories of abiotic factors are
- Physical factors: light, humidity, atmospheric temperature, wind, etc.
- Chemical factors: like soil types, soil organisms etc.
- Inorganic substances: water, carbon, nitrogen, and so on.
- Organic substances: proteins, lipids, carbohydrates etc.
Biotic factors are all the living things or their materials that directly or indirectly affect an organism in its environment like animal community, plant community and microbial community.
The categories of biotic factors are
- Autotrophs – Producers (Plants)
- Heterotrophs - Consumers ( Animals including Human)
- Saprotrophs - Feed on dead organic matter like Bacteria, Fungi etc.