This deep dive covers Deep Dive: Biotic vs Abiotic Factors within Ecosystems Communities for GCSE Biology. Topic 1: Ecosystems Communities It is section 3 of 15 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🔬 Deep Dive: Biotic vs Abiotic Factors
🏠 The House Analogy
Think of an ecosystem like a house. ABIOTIC factors are like the building itself — the walls, temperature, lighting, water supply. BIOTIC factors are like the people living there — how they interact, compete for the TV remote, share food, and affect each other's lives!
ABIOTIC FACTORS (non-living):
- Light intensity — affects photosynthesis rate, where plants can grow
- Temperature — affects enzyme activity, metabolic rate, where organisms can survive
- Moisture/water availability — essential for all life; affects where organisms live
- Soil pH — affects which plants can grow, mineral availability
- Wind — affects transpiration rate, seed dispersal, temperature
- CO₂ concentration — affects photosynthesis rate
- Oxygen levels — affects respiration, especially in water
- Mineral content — affects plant growth (nitrates for proteins, etc.)
BIOTIC FACTORS (living):
- Competition — for food, water, space, mates, light
- Predation — predators reduce prey populations
- Disease — pathogens can devastate populations
- Food availability — affects population size
- New predators — introduced species can cause havoc
- New pathogens — diseases spreading to new areas
Practice questions for Ecosystems Communities
What is a community in ecology?
Explain what is meant by interdependence in an ecosystem.
Quick recall flashcards
What is a habitat?
The place where an organism lives — the specific part of the environment that provides everything the organism needs to survive.
What is a community?
All the populations of different species living and interacting in the same area at the same time.