Re: Are dead things considered biotic or abiotic?

This is a good example of what can happen when we, as humans, try to 
categorise things in the living world around us. The simplest way to think 
about it is that abiotic factors are to do with the environment in which 
an ecosystem exists while the biotic factors are to do with the 
interactions between the things that live in it. If we follow this idea, 
then a dead organism is derived from the biotic components of the 
ecosystem but, when it has been broken down, for example by digestion or 
decomposition, it can contribute to the abiotic components. I don't know 
at which exact point the dead organism will cease to be a biotic factor 
and begin to be an abiotic one, presumably when it has been broken down 
completely and becomes assimilated into the substrate, but I hope this has 
cleared up your question a little. But, as Richard Feynman said, "When the 
scientist tells you ... he is pretty sure of how it's going to work and he 
tells you,"This is the way it's going to work, I'll bet," he's still in 
some doubt!"