Biotic factors are

• A. Nonliving components of an environment
• B. Living organisms
• C. The air and water
• D. The weather patterns

Answer: (B)

Biotic factors are the living parts of an environment. This includes plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria, as well as the ways they interact with each other—predation, competition, symbiosis, and decomposition. The term comes from biology and means life, so anything that is alive or has life processes counts as biotic. Abiotic factors, in contrast, are nonliving elements like air, water, sunlight, temperature, and weather patterns. They shape the conditions for living things but are not themselves living. So, biotic factors are living organisms and their interactions within an ecosystem.