As just mentioned, there are many different factors that make up an ecosystem. But these factors can be divided into two categories: Abiotic and biotic.

Abiotic factors are those that don't involve living things. For example, abiotic factors include temperature, wind and amount of water and sunlight.
Biotic factors are things that do involve living things. For example, biotic factors include what kind of life is already in the biome and how they interact with each other.

Abiotic and biotic factors affect each other in many complex ways. The rest of this week is divided into three sections. The first will cover abiotic factors, and the second will cover biotic factors. The third covers biomes, which are characterized by the biotic and abiotic factors present in a particular geographic area.