Soil factors in an ecosystems are referred to as

1. Analyze the question The question asks for the term used for soil factors in an ecosystem. The key word is "soil."

2. Explain the concept Ecologists group the environmental (abiotic and biotic) factors into categories:

• Biotic factors: living things such as plants, animals, and microorganisms.
• Climatic factors: weather elements such as rainfall, temperature, humidity, light, and wind.
• Edaphic factors: factors relating to the soil, such as soil pH, texture, water content, mineral salts, humus, and soil organisms' habitat conditions.
• Physiographic (topographic) factors: factors relating to the land's shape and features, such as slope, altitude, hills, valleys, and aspect.

3. Step-by-step solution

• A. Biotic: relates to living organisms, not soil. ✗
• B. Climatic: relates to weather. ✗
• C. Edaphic: comes from the Greek word edaphos, meaning "soil" or "ground." ✓
• D. Physiographic: relates to the physical features of the land. ✗
• E. Topographic: relates to the surface features or relief of the land. ✗

4. Answer The correct option is C. edaphic.

5. Exam tip Link the words to their roots: Edaphic → Earth (soil). Climatic → Climate. Topographic → Topography (land shape). Biotic → Bio (life). Whenever you see "soil factors" in an exam, think edaphic.