Not derived from living organisms; not involving life or biological processes.
From Greek a- (not) + bios (life) + -tic (relating to). Coined in the 19th century to distinguish non-living factors from biotic (living) factors in ecosystems.
Ecologists constantly talk about 'abiotic factors'—sunlight, temperature, rainfall, soil chemistry—because a plant or animal's survival depends just as much on these non-living things as it does on other living creatures around it.
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