Final answer:
Biotic factors are the living elements in an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. They interact closely with abiotic factors, which are the non-living parts of the environment like water and temperature. These interactions shape the ecosystem dynamics.
Step-by-step explanation:
What are Biotic Factors? Biotic factors are the living components within an ecosystem. They include all organisms, such as plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and protists. These factors have interactions with each other and abiotic factors, which are the non-living elements like sunlight, soil, temperature, and water.
The ecology field extensively studies these interactions, how biotic factors rely on the abiotic elements for survival, and vice versa. For instance, plants (a biotic factor) require water (an abiotic factor) for photosynthesis, and animals (another biotic factor) breathe in oxygen (an abiotic factor).
Ecosystems are shaped by the complex interplay between these biotic elements and their abiotic counterparts. The presence of certain biotic factors, like vegetation, can significantly affect the availability of resources within an area, which in turn influences what species can thrive in that environment.