10.2. BALANCED AND IMBLANCED ECOSYSTEMS

All parts of an ecosystem must work together to reach a balance that allows each of the members of the system to thrive. In a BALANCED ECOSYSTEM, for instance, predators keep the population of rabbits from growing too large because when there are too many rabbits they eat too many plants. If rabbits ate too many plants, the plants would not be able to grow back fast enough and other animals that need the plants would not have enough to eat. ECOSYSTEMS can become IMBALANCED when something disrupts their normal workings. Many factors can lead to this situation:

• Invasive species: they reproduce faster than native species (zebra mussel, tiger mosquito.).
• Extensive crops: they reduce diversity because only one plant species is cultivated.
• Human activities: forest fires, for example, produce catastrophic changes in forest ecosystems.
• Pollution:
  • Oil spills cause serious damage to marine and coastal ecosystems.
  • Rubbish, especially plastic, has a disastrous effect on marine animals because they eat it.
  • Air pollutants affect the health of the living things.

YouTube: WillDiv "Por qué BOO casi destruye Monstruos S.A | Biología de Disney"