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2. Biotic
Made up of biological components consisting of living and
dead plants, animals and microorganisms
The Major Biological Components of Ecosystem
a. Producers (Autotrophs)(self-feeders)
("self-feeding", from the Greek (e)autos "self" and trophe
"nourishing ") or "producer",
2. Edaphic Factors
Are the physico-chemical properties of soil that limit the
abundance and distribution of living organisms
Soil is a natural product of unconsolidated mineral and organic
matter on Earths surface. It is the medium in w/c plant grows
and the site of the decomposition of organic matter.
Soil served as the habitat of animals and the anchoring
medium of plants and source of their nutrients and water
a. Soil Characteristics
o Soil is a complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients,
decaying organic matter, water, air, and billions of living
organisms, most of them microscopic decomposers.
o Soil is a renewable resource
o Soil was formed from the weathering of rocks and minerals
through mechanical or physical weathering for a very long
time.
o Plants and animals have pronounced influence on soil
development when they colonize the weathered rocks
o The roots of the plants penetrate the soil and pump up the
nutrients converting this to organic form through
photosynthesis
o When plants die, the bacteria will decompose the debris
into inorganic nutrients.
o Some invertebrates like millipedes, earthworms and mites
consume the fresh materials in the soil and leave the
partially decomposed in the soil through their excreta
thereby increasing the amount of inorganic materials in the
soil.
o Mature soils area ranged is a series of zones called soil
horizon, each with distinct texture and composition that
varies with different types of soils
o A cross-sectional view of the horizons in a soil is called a
soil profile
1. Nutrients