Types of Abiotic Factors
- In Biology, ‘abiotic’ means non-living. An abiotic factor is a non-living factor
- Some abiotic factors which can affect a community are shown in the table below:
Abiotic factors that affect a community
Abiotic Factors (AQA GCSE Biology: Combined Science)
Revision Note
Effect of Abiotic Factors
- You should be able to extract and interpret information from charts, graphs and tables relating to the effect of abiotic factors on organisms within a community
Example exam question
Plants of the same species were grown in tanks with different CO2 levels. Their height was measured after 3 weeks and an average taken:
Graph showing the effect of CO2 concentration on plant height
What conclusion can you draw from this graph about the effect of CO2 concentration on plant growth rate? Explain your answer.
Example exam answer
As CO2 concentration increases, average plant height also increases. For example, at 5% CO2, average plant height was 10cm, but at 30% CO2, average plant height was 60cm. This shows that the higher the CO2 concentration, the greater the plant growth rate. This is because CO2 is used by plants for photosynthesis, which allows the plant to produce glucose for energy to grow.Examiner Tip
When answering questions that refer to a chart, graph or table, remember to reference specific figures from the data to support your answer, as seen in the example above.
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