Question

What biotic factors might account for any differences between different types of habitats, such as disturbed and less disturbed hillsides. Please explain with great detail

Answer 1

Biotic factors of an ecosystem are the living organism which interacts with one another.

These biotic components can affect the population density and its distribution in a particular habitat.

A habitat is a place where an organism is most likely to be found.

So, biotic factors such as:

• competition
• predation
• invasion
• symbiosis

Can affect the presence of an organism in its habitat.

For example, the introduction of an invading species water hyacinth in the USA caused the native aquatic plants and water to die by spreading as a mat on the water surface and thus blocking the access of sunlight to the aquatic plants.

Thus from the above-mentioned example, we can rule out that the invasive species can affect the native species by creating competition for available resources which could be food, space, water etc.

Also if the number of predators is increased in an ecosystem then the prey population can decline overtime in its particular habitat.

Some symbiotic relationship like parasitism, amensalism can affect the presence of a certain population in a habitat.

On the other side, there are certain acts in the ecosystem, which help the different populations to co-exist in a particular habitat. Eg.

Mutualism

Commensalism

Coexistence.

So, whether the habitat is disturbed or undisturbed, all this depends on the types of organism and species present and their interactions with each other in a habitat.