Abiotic Factors
An abiotic factor is a non-living chemical or physical factor in the environment. They shape an ecosystem and directly affect how organisms survive in their environment. Examples of this in any ecosystem include wind, availability of nutrients, precipitation, temperature, and humidity. Also, this can include latitude, or the location on Earth and whether it is near the equator or not, and sunlight availability. Specific examples in the tropical rainforest biome include the hot, wet climate that is present year-round. There is a very high level of rain, up to around 80 inches annually, and this biome is found generally near the equator, hence the hot temperatures experienced throughout the year. Also, the amount of sunlight is an abiotic factor. While there is often a lot of sun at the canopy layer, barely any of it gets past it to the understory and the forest floor. As a result, only certain organisms that can survive with little to no sunlight are able to live there. Another abiotic factor is the thin and nutrient poor soil. When a leaf falls, it only takes about 6 weeks to decompose, as opposed to about a year elsewhere, which means that nutrients are quickly cycled back into the plants; most of it is stored there, leaving the soil poor of the nutrients. However, such a diversity of plants can grow there still as they have adapted to this lacking soil and live frugally while quickly recycling necessary materials. Finally, one other abiotic factor is the humid air.
This climograph displays one of the abiotic factors of the tropical rainforest biome: precipitation. Belem, Brazil consists of tropical rainforest.