Definition of Abiotic Factors

There is a large number of totally necessary elements, substances and circumstances on which life depends. These types of requirements are called abiotic factors, since they are not living organisms, but the actors that intervene on them and that in turn, they can continue to be maintained independently of the former, while the inverse equation would be impossible. Among the most essential abiotic factors must be considered: 1) the direct protagonists of the various biogeochemical cycles; 2) climatic phenomena such as temperature; and 3) environmental ones, whether on a large or small scale, such as light. Thus, for example, water, light, air and/or mineral salts are essential in our environment; and it is that without these factors, life could not develop on our planet, because thanks to them the cells of our body, and of the rest of the living beings, can increase and survive.

It is paradoxical that these types of factors are essential for life, since the truth is that all of them are inert, they do not have life by themselves. However, without them, biotic factors could not survive either. If we look at water, for example, and pay attention to the fact that the human body has 65% of it, we will understand its relevance. Water is also the ideal medium to transmit nutrients and allow the synthesis of compounds. Without it, the simplest vital functions could not be carried out, so we would die. Thus, it is less curious that a person can last longer without eating than without drinking. It is true that many organisms are designed to last a long time without ingesting water. Organisms used to living in extreme situations in which this factor is not abundant. Even so, all living organisms need it, to a greater or lesser extent.

Light is another essential abiotic factor for life. Let’s think about the plant world; and it is that without it, photosynthesis could not take place. Without this photosynthesis, the plants would die and, therefore, the food chain would be completely affected, even ending the life of all living beings on the planet. From a simplistic point of view, since air has many other functions and compounds, without the oxygen in it we could not live. Most living things need oxygen to survive. When breathing it, we expel carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the plants to carry out the already named photosynthesis. For their part, mineral salts, an abiotic factor that we could not do without either. The different mineral salts regulate an endless number of determining aspects in living organisms. Thus, thanks to them we can regulate aspects such as enzyme systems or even control blood coagulation.

All these considerations can be assumed through specific studies within a specific ecological segment, such as a certain crop, or as part of the essential aspects on which all the planet’s biological diversity depends, for making predictions. or analysis of the phenomena directly linked to the various moments in the history of life.

When the external does influence

The survival of an organism does not depend only on its own organic conditions, but rather these, at a physiological level, strictly depend on a large number of external variables determined by the availability, both in quality and quantity, of the resources necessary for its survival. satisfaction, finding among them both the molecular components, such as water and oxygen, without which all the rest of the metabolic activities would not be possible, as well as the specific temperature and light conditions to which each species is adapted in particular.

The evolutionary processes of each of the species in this sense, developed according to the opportunities they had to take advantage of these factors, however, this phenomenon occurred gradually as well as proportionately, in order to allow equilibrium to prevail. necessary both among the species, as well as between these and the existing abiotic factors, thus giving rise to the creation of ecosystems as a model of life that is truly self-sustaining and sustainable over time, with which to guarantee the survival of all species, under dynamics that allow to guarantee the most efficient possible administration of resources, however, despite all this earthly happiness, there are also naturally disturbance factors such that they can devastate in an instant all the established balance, being the most common and frequent climatic factors such as major floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and fires, however, such well-being seems to be a contagious quality, since in more or less time, the ecosystems impacted by these phenomena can gradually recover as a consequence of the rebalancing stimulated by abiotic factors surroundings on a larger scale.

Living on lifeless matter

Due to the direct link between living beings and abiotic factors, their consideration among the activities carried out for the sustenance of humanity is increasing, and thus they have become the key point that even allows the optimization of resources. necessary for the establishment of functions such as agriculture and breeding of the species that serve us both as food and for less relevant purposes such as floral arrangements on special dates.

On the other hand, among the abiotic factors, it has also been possible to obtain a great source of natural resources that mostly sustain technological progress, becoming an essential source of elements on which the economic system of nations is based, depending on the degree of use that each of them establishes and depending on the amount and ways in which they can obtain said resources within their own territories.

The fragile environmental alterations

As it must be assumed, the existing dependence between living beings and the particular abiotic factors of their own environment, leads to vulnerability to changes that these may have, subjecting species to different extents, because some are perhaps more resistant. than others, with catastrophic consequences that in many cases even manage to direct the least advantaged species directly towards their extinction.

In consideration of this phenomenon, the disturbances caused to abiotic factors on a large scale on the entire planet, as a consequence of human action and the subsequent climate change, become a source of threat to life on earth, generating between the responses of immediate actions the prevailing need to study and control each of these factors, in such a way as to be able to establish regulatory measures in specific areas, which allow progressively correcting the disturbances caused.

References

Alday, J.G. (2011). Influence of abiotic factors on early revegetation after hydroseeding of coal waste. Ecosystems, 20(2-3).

Lehninger, A. (1977). Biochemistry. 2nd Edition. Havana City, Cuba. Editorial People and Education.

Mathews, C. et al. (2005). Biochemistry. 3rd Edition. Madrid Spain. Pearson–Addison Wesley.

Sangüesa-Barreda, G., et all. (2015). Role of biotic factors and droughts in forest decay: contributions from dendroecology. Ecosystems, 24(2), 15-23.

Ville, C. (1996). Biology. 8th Edition. Mexico. McGraw-Hill.

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