The Four Factors of an Ecosystem

Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic factors include environmental factors, such as climate, erosion, water runoff, pH, water salinity, water or air turbulence and sunlight. Minerals and nutrients in water, air and soil are also considered to be abiotic factors. Abiotic factors affect producers, consumers, and decomposers by providing required nutrients and necessary habitat characteristics, such as temperature and moisture. Pollution, land alteration, irrigation and urbanization all affect the abiotic factors of an ecosystem, and their effects should be analyzed thoroughly before implementation.

Producers

• Producers are autotrophic organisms, meaning that they produce their own energy, rather than relying on the consumption of other organisms for nutrition. Autotrophic organisms rely on abiotic factors, such as water nutrients, sunlight and climate temperature, to produce energy. Organisms such as plants, trees and algae are all producers. In addition to providing nutrition to consumers, many producers also contribute to abiotic factors; a good example is the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air, and how plants convert carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Consumers

• Consumers, sometimes referred to as macroconsumers, are heterotrophic organisms, which means that they rely on other organisms to obtain nutrition. Mammals, insects, fish, mollusks, arthropods and birds are all consumers. Herbivore consumers consume only producers; a horse is an herbivore because it only eats plant matter. Carnivore consumers consume only other producers; a lion consuming zebras and other consumers, for example. Omnivore producers consume a combination of producers and consumers; humans eat both meat and plant matter, making them omnivorous.

Decomposers

• Decomposers, otherwise known as microconsumers, are, like consumers, heterotrophic organisms, meaning that they too rely on other organisms to obtain necessary nutrition. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers, because they rely on decomposing organic materials, be they plant or animal, producer or consumer, for nutrition. Decomposers consume nutrients as an organism decays, hastening the process of decay, and convert the nutrients they consume into a form that producers can utilize.