Water Pollution and Biotic/Abiotic Factors of the Ecosystem by Matt Rogers

Water pollution has a huge impact on biotic and abiotic factors of the ecosystem. Biotic factors are the living, breathing organisms of life. There are thousands of living organisms in the ocean. Some biotic factors that are affected by water pollution are aquatic food such as phyto- and zoo-plankton. If there is no aquatic food then there will be a great decrease in whales, small fish, sea stars and shrimp. If there is a decrease in aquatic food, then the population of the fish that eat that aquatic food will decrease. Therefore there will be a mass chain reaction of decreased predator populations. This could be very dangerous for the ecosystem.  One other biotic factor that is affected by water pollution is the mortality of sea plants which provide shelter for fish.

Abiotic factors are the nonliving factors that affect living organisms. Believe it or not, yes there are even some nonliving factors that are affected by water pollution. One factor that’s greatly affected by water pollution is the oxygen content. The oxygen content of the water can be reduced greatly if it is being polluted by an organic source, such as sewage. The amount of dissolved oxygen usually determines the number and types of organisms living in that body of water. For example, trout are sensitive to low dissolved oxygen levels and cannot survive in warm, slow-moving rivers or streams. Decay of organic material in water such as untreated sewage or dead vegetation can greatly reduce dissolved oxygen concentration. Another important abiotic factor that is affected by the pollution of water is temperature. If there was cooling water that entered some body of water, that water would act as a thermal pollutant and have an adverse effect on the members of that specific ecosystem.