Abiotic Factors
Abiotic Factors are the environments non-living components, the physical or chemical factors such as temperature, forms of energy available, water, nutrients. Air quality and rain are two main Abiotic factors that have an effect on the ecosystem of death valley
Air Quality
Air quality is also one of the major factors in death valley. Air currents keep the air hot in death valley. These air currents remove all of the moisture from death valley, making it have less precipitation than other deserts around the world. This is important because the hot air currents determine what organisms live and would survive in death valley.
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Rain
One of the most distinct abiotic factors in death valley is the amount of rain that falls per year. Typically, death valley receive less than 2 inches of rain per year. This means that animals and plants looking to survive in the desert must be able to live with extremely little water for extended periods of time. For example, cacti have evolved to store water in their stems to help them through dry spells.
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Biotic Factors
Unlike Abiotic factors, biotic factors are all the living things in the environment that have a Direct or indirect effect on the environments existence. For an example when a predator consumes its prey, it would be considered as a biotic factor. In death valley there are two main biotic factors that tend to have an effect to one another. These two biotic factors are the Black Tailed Jack Rabbit and also wild flowers.
Wild Flowers
Wild flowers are a biotic factor in the death valley because they produce their own food and are preys to others food. For example herbivores like the black tailed jack rabbit eats the wild flower to survive. Another reason why wild flowers are biotic factor is because these plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide oxygen to the ecosystem making them a vital part of the death valley.
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Black Tailed Jack Rabbit
Like wild flowers black tailed jack rabbits are biotic factors of death valley as well. This animal is a biotic factor because it is the food of the kit fox. If the black tailed rabbit would not be their the secondary consumers would have not as much to eat, causing their extinction.
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