biotiska

Biotiska refers to the living components of an environment, including all organisms and their interactions. The term is used in biology and ecology to distinguish living factors from non-living abiotic influences such as climate, soil chemistry, water chemistry, and physical habitat. Biotiska factors shape where species occur, how abundant they are, and how ecosystems function.

Biotiska components can be organized by their trophic roles: producers (such as plants and algae that generate energy through photosynthesis), consumers (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores that obtain energy by eating other organisms), and decomposers (fungi and bacteria that break down organic matter). They engage in a range of interactions, including predation, competition, mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism. These interactions influence community structure, biodiversity, and the flow of energy and nutrients through ecosystems.

In research and applied contexts, biotiska studies examine population dynamics, species interactions, and food webs, as well as how communities respond to disturbances and environmental changes. Human activities such as habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, and climate change can alter biotic communities and ecosystem processes, with consequences for ecosystem services like food production, disease regulation, and resilience. Etymologically, biotiska derives from the Greek bios (life) and is used in Swedish and other languages to denote living or biologically based aspects, contrasted with abiotiska factors, which are non-living.