When do you think a life scientist would study a nonliving thing such as a lake or a rock?

The field of study of the life scientist is not only limited to study of the living things themselves. In some other cases, they also should study the nonliving things that have connections or relationship to the life they are studying. 

In this regard, for example, the life scientist is studying about the a certain species in a lake such as fish. It is important that he or she understands the diversity in the life of the organism by studying the objects around it such as the rock. He or she should define whether the presence of a certain material or object has a direct effect to the existence of a living organism.