Biotic Factors: How Living Things Affect Ecosystems and Communities

The video tutorial discusses biotic factors, which are living elements that affect ecosystems and communities. It explains how food availability, new predators, pathogens, and species competition can influence the makeup and size of communities. Examples include the impact of mink on UK ecosystems and the competition between red and gray squirrels. The tutorial concludes with an example of how introducing a new predator, like a mink, can alter a community's dynamics.

What are biotic factors and how do they differ from abiotic factors?

Explain how the availability of food can impact a community.

Discuss the effects of the arrival of new predators on existing communities.

What impact do new pathogens or pests have on communities, using the varroa mite as an example?

How does competition between species, such as the red and gray squirrels, affect their populations?