Abiotic factors are the structure on which ecosystems are raised. There are physical abiotic factors and chemical abiotic factors and do not have life, but characterize the territory and model the communities present, their combination being more or less favorable for the survival of certain species. In turn, they are disturbed and modified by living beings. Abiotic factors, biotic and relationships that exist between them constitute ecosystems.
To know the importance of abiotic factors or abiotic elements in species survival strategies and in the conservation of our planet, consult this interesting Ecology Verde. Here we talk about What are abiotic factors, their characteristics and examples of these.
What are abiotic factors
The Abiotic factors of an ecosystem They are all the components that determine the physical space or biotope in which biocenosis develops; That is, where they live, feed, relate and reproduce living beings.
There are different types of abiotic factors or abiotic elements. These can be geographically or topographic (latitude, length, altitude, orientation, slope …), climate (temperature, sunlight, relative humidity, wind, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, concentration of suspended particles …), edaphic (composition and soil structure) and chemical (air components, water and soil).
Together with living organisms and interactions that keep in the middle, these factors constitute a key piece in ecosystems configuration. In the whole of the ecosystems (biosphere), it is possible to identify three different types of environments: land, sweet acute (coastal area, marshes, estuaries, rivers …) and marine, based on the configuration of abiotic factors.
We advise you to expand the information with these other ecology articles about what biotope and examples are, what is biocenosis and examples and the difference and relationship between biotope and biocentosis with examples. In addition, we also recommend this other article about the difference between biotic and abiotic to even better understand this issue.
Characteristics of abiotic factors
Below are some of the most important characteristics of abiotic factors:
- They have no life.
- Its nature can be natural (eg: water) or artificial (eg: plastics).
- They are limiting, since they influence the growth and expansion of organisms.
- The specific combination of abiotic factors determines the species of flora and fauna that inhabit the different natural spaces.
- They are modified by living beings.
- These combinations and alterations are responsible for the various adaptations that organisms incorporate.
Examples of abiotic factors
These are some Examples of abiotic factors:
- Forests are very important for the services and goods they provide. Its distribution is subject to topographic abiotic factors. For example, the taiga or boreal forest, located between the 50ºN and 60ºN of latitude, has temperatures in summer near the 20 ºC and about -30 ºC in winter.
- Wet tropical forests are around 10ºN and 10ºS, where temperatures are much higher (25-27 ºC). The conditions in both cases are different, so it is also the own flora and fauna. In addition to temperature, they are also abiotic tropical forest factors The soils, the intensity of light and relative humidity.
- Deserts are modeled by extreme abiotic factors. For example, among the abiotic desert factors we see that Water and sunlight They are determining elements. The vegetation is adapted to water scarcity. In fact, most plants are CAM, that is, they perform a different photosynthesis from the rest of the plants (C3).
- Among the abiotic factors of the jungle, sunlight, humidity, temperature and sky stand out. These ecosystems are very exposed to Solar radiation. In order to avoid water loss, plants have very small leaves, except in low areas of the jungles in which the leaves are large to capture more light, because it comes less than the upper parts. This adaptation is an example of how these conditions influence biocenosis.
- In aquatic ecosystems, we can say that among aquatic abiotic factors we see that The temperature He also plays a key role. With climate change, the surface temperature of seas and oceans is increasing, which causes changes in the distribution patterns of marine species.
- In coastal areas, human activities have increased water turbidity. This results in species that depend on good lighting such as Oceanica posidonia, They are currently in special protection regime.
- Coastal wetlands are one of the most vulnerable aquatic ecosystems to changes in physical-chemical factors. Example of this are the changes of salinity who have turned L’Obufera de València into a sweet lake, despite its saline origins.
- Oxygen dissolved in water is essential for life. Its concentration not only depends on the production and consumption processes, but the interaction with other abiotic factors, such as temperature, causes variations, affecting the fauna and flora of these ecosystems.
- In the cold deserts of polar regions, temperature, sunlight and rainfall They are very important land abiotic factors. The scarcity of hours of light, the lack of rainfall and low temperatures make plant life forms simple and scarce (moss, lichens …).
- The air It is an important abiotic factor, as it refers to the set of gases present in the atmosphere. The composition of the atmosphere allows life on the planet. However, human beings, with the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), are altering it, causing global warming.
Below you will see images of some of the examples of the factors to biotic and in the end, you will find a brief video about what they are and what is the difference between biotic and abiotic factors.
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