All types of organisms have adaptations that enable them to survive in a particular environment. They may show adaptations for food-getting and reproduction, as well as for avoiding predators. Living organisms are affected by physical factors in their environment, such as the availability of water, temperature variation and range, the amount of light, and the composition of the soil. The physical environment is also affected by the organmisms that live in it. For example, certain organisms affect the breakdown of rock to soil, and plant growth contributes to the filling of in ponds. Finally, organisms are affected by the other organisms living in the same area.
In studying the interaction between organisms and their environment, both the living and nonliving factors must be considered. The biotic, or living , factors include all the living organisms in the environment and their effects, both direct and indirect, on other living things. The abiotic, or nonliving, factors include water, oxygen, light, temperature, soil, and inorganic and organic nutrients.
The abiotic factors determine what types of organisms can survive in a particular environment. For example, in deserts there is a very little available water, and the temperature can vary daily from very hot to cold. Only plants that are adapted to these conditions, such as sagebrush and cactus, can survive. Other types of plants, such as corn, oak trees and orchids, cannot survive in deserts. They grow in other environments with different abiotic conditions to which they are adapted.
