Question

How do biotic and abiotic factors cycle in an ecosystem?

Answer 1

Hint: Ecosystem is the sum of both biotic and abiotic components of a specific geographical area. So it is a unit that includes all the organisms in a given area, interacting with the physical environment by means of food change and chemical cycles resulting in the energy flow, biological diversity and material cycling.

Complete answer:
-Biogeochemical cycles are defined as the cyclic pathways through which chemical elements move from environment to organism and back to the environment. Such movements of elements and in organic compounds is essential for maintaining soft life. These are also called nutrient cycles.
-In an ecosystem the nutrients from the external sources are received and stored for their utilisation in the biological processes for the growth and development of living organisms. The main sources of input of nutrients are wet deposition, dry deposition, symbiotic biological fixation of nitrogen in the soil, release of nutrients from their fixed state by weathering of rocks, etc.
-These nutrients move out of an ecosystem by various processes like loss of nutrients like calcium and magnesium through runoff water and soil erosion, denitrification and during harvesting of agricultural crops are transportation of logs from forest.
-An ecosystem which is in homeostasis maintains a physiological balance between the inputs of nutrients and output of nutrients. This keeps the nutrient cycle more or less balanced.
-There is also internal cycling of nutrients through various steps like the generation of nutrients during decomposition of detritus by the decomposers like bacteria and fungi. The nutrient absorption involves uptake of nutrients from the soil by plants to incorporate them in their growth and development. These nutrients are recycled back into the soil during the process of litter fall from the plant sources, animal remains and fecal matter of the animals.

Note: The biotic component includes the living elements of the ecosystem that are divided into two categories based on their nutritional relationship- autotrophic and heterotrophic components. Abiotic components include the nonliving physico-chemical part of the environment. This affects the distribution, structure, behavior and interrelationship of organisms.