That’s an excellent question! As you know, abiotic means non-living and biotic means living. In ecosystems, we talk about abiotic factors (sunlight, water, air, soil, climate) and biotic factors.

All living things (bacteria, plants, animals, fungi, etc.) have several characteristics in common. For example, they all have cells and DNA. They all need a source of energy and raw materials. They all give off wastes. They do some form of gas exchange, such as taking in oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. They all grow and reproduce. They respond to their environments and are highly organized.

So spider silk is not a living organism, but I think it would be considered a biotic factor because it is produced by a living organism. The silk itself that the web is made of is a protein that the spider creates.

This is a question that is valuable because of how it makes us think about things. In this case, that’s really more useful than the answer.

What are some other products of living things (besides other living things) that are important in an ecosystem?

What do you think?

Biotic things come from living organisms. Abiotic things come from stuff that has never been alive.

Where do spider's webs come from? They come from spiders.

The spiders spin their webs out of the spinnerets on their back ends.