Question

Give two examples of biotic components.

Answer 1

An ecosystem is a self-regulated and self-sustained unit having interaction and exchange of materials between the biotic community and physical environment. Thus it has two components- biotic and abiotic components. It maintains a functional balance or relatively stable state of equilibrium amongst its various components.

Complete answer:
The biotic component is the living component while the abiotic component is the non-living component of the ecosystem. Two examples of biotic components are:
Autotrophs or producers- These are the organisms that have the capacity to manufacture their own food by fixing the radiant energy of the sun into chemical energy. It includes various organisms like photosynthetic, chemosynthetic bacteria, protists, and phytoplankton.
Heterotrophs or consumers- These are the organisms that are unable to manufacture their own food and depend upon producers or green plants for their food. For example, deer, rabbit, squirrel, grass-hopper
Consumers are categorized as primary, secondary, and tertiary depending upon the source of their food. Primary consumers are heterotrophs and obtain their food from producers or green plants.
Secondary consumers live upon herbivores and tertiary consumers live upon secondary consumers.
Besides autotrophs and heterotrophs, decomposers also form an important part of the biotic component of the ecosystem. They decompose dead organic remains of producers and consumers into simple substances by secreting extracellular digestive enzymes, e.g. bacteria, fungi, etc. These decomposers are also called reducers or mineralizers. Detritivores are decomposers as well as scavengers.

Note: The abiotic component of the ecosystem includes inorganic substances or minerals, different climatic conditions like temperature, pH, light, wind, humidity, precipitation, etc.