ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
◇ Abiotic components are the inorganic and non-living parts that act as major limiting factors.
◇ A lot of factors determine the survival of an organism. But one single factor can limit the range of an organism.
◇ This single factor is called a limiting factor.
• For example, seeds do not germinate quickly in evergreen rain forests despite good rains & luxuriant vegetation.
• This is because the surface soil is heavily leached (nutrients washed away) by running water.
• Here, the inferior surface soil is the limiting factor that limits the germination of seeds.
• Likewise, germinated saplings may not survive due to lack of light because of the dense canopy. Here, the ab sence of light (shade of the forest) is the limiting factor.