Abiotic and Biotic factors

Abiotic

non-living components of an ecosystem, such as sunlight, temperature, water, and minerals.

Biotic

living components of an ecosystem, including plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms.

heterotrophs

consumers, consume energy

autotrophs

producers, make own energy

detritivores

consume decaying matter

Light

is an abiotic factor that provides energy for photosynthesis, influencing plant growth and ecosystem dynamics. Affects autotrophs and food chain.

Temperature

Affects amount of oxygen in water and influences metabolic rates of organisms, impacting their survival and distribution in ecosystems.

Salinity

is the concentration of salts in water, affecting aquatic life and ecosystem health. can cause algae growth.

This paired with temp and light can cause algae blooms.

Currents

Pressure

nutrients

Waste

Limiting resources

resources are finite.

Competitive exclusion

to obtain resources, competition is necessary

carrying capacity

total population size that an ecosystem can sustain.

R selected

Crabs, Squids, sea urchin,

grow quickly and have lots of offspring

K selected

nautilus, sea turtle, whale,

grow slowly and have small amount of offspring.

Semelparous

reproduce once in life, R-selected

iteroparous

reproduce multiple times in life, K-selected

type I survivorship

long life expectancy, low infant mortality rate

type II survivorship

relatively constant mortality

Type III survivorship

high mortality in early life, short life expectancy

Symbiosis

close, long-term relationship of 2 species

Mutualism

both species benefit

parasitism

one species benefits, other species harmed

commensalism

one species benefits, one species is unharmed

predator

one benefits, one dies

competition

one benefits, one harmed

niche

fundamental vs realized

interspecific vs intraspecific

different species competing for resources vs same species competing for resources

keystone species

species that ecosystem depends on

Pelagic zones

sunlight, twilight, midnight

plankton vs nekton

passive, drifts with current vs active, can swim against current.

Nueston

small aquatic organisms near surface

phytoplankton

plant/algae

zooplankton

animals

meroplankton

closer to bottom

holoplankton

closer to surface

benthic

hadal, abyssal zones

epifauna

above sand (crabs)

infauna

in/below sand (octopus)

biogeochemical cycles

how the chemical biological and geological cycles affect each other/essential elements of living. (H2O, C, N)