How does the biosphere include both living organisms and nonliving factors?

The biosphere is a global ecosystem that functions through the inseparable interaction between living organisms and their nonliving environment. It is composed of two primary, interrelated components:1

• Biotic (Living) Component: This includes all living organisms, which are categorized by how they acquire energy: primary producers (such as green plants), consumers (animals), and decomposers (microorganisms that break down organic matter for recycling).21
• Abiotic (Nonliving) Component: This encompasses the physical and chemical factors that support life, including the flow of energy, water, gases, and the concentrations of organic and inorganic substances in the environment.21

These components are linked through biogeochemical cycles, where essential elements—such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen—alternate between inorganic states in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere and organic states within living cells. While energy flows through the biosphere and cannot be reused, organisms drive these cycles by capturing, concentrating, and eventually releasing these elements back into the environment, maintaining the structural integrity of life on Earth.31