Which term refers to a living factor in an ecosystem?

The term that refers to a living factor in an ecosystem is "biotic." In ecological contexts, biotic factors encompass all living organisms, including plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, and how they interact within their environments. These interactions influence the structure and dynamics of the ecosystem, such as food webs, competition, and symbiosis.

On the other hand, abiotic factors refer to non-living components of the environment, such as sunlight, soil, water, and temperature, which also play crucial roles but do not include living entities. The term symbiotic describes a specific type of relationship between different organisms, which fits within the broader category of biotic factors but does not represent all living factors in an ecosystem. Photosynthetic refers specifically to the process by which certain organisms, mainly plants and some algae and bacteria, convert light energy into chemical energy, again focusing on a process rather than the broader concept of living factors.