Which term refers to the living components of an ecosystem?

The term that refers to the living components of an ecosystem is biotic factors. Biotic factors include all the organisms in an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. These living components interact with each other and with their physical environment, playing essential roles in ecological processes like food chains, competition, and symbiotic relationships.

In contrast, abiotic factors refer to the non-living components of an ecosystem, including water, air, soil, and climate. Nonrenewable resources denote materials like fossil fuels that cannot be replenished within a human lifespan, and ecological problems involve issues such as pollution and habitat loss that affect ecosystems but do not specifically categorize living organisms. Understanding the distinction between biotic and abiotic factors is fundamental in studying ecology and the functioning of ecosystems.