Ecological Balance

Most of the world's ecosystems are the result of millennia of coevolution by organisms, adapting to their environment and each other until a stable balance is reached. Healthy ecosystems maintain this balance via limiting factors, environmental conditions that restrict the size or range of a species. These include things like natural geography and climate, food availability, and the presence or absence of predators. For example, plant growth depends on levels of sunlight and soil nutrients. The amount of edible plants affects the population of herbivores, which in turn impacts the carnivores that feed on them. And a healthy predator population keeps the herbivores from becoming too numerous and devouring all the plants. But even minor changes in one factor can upset this balance, and the sudden introduction of non-native organisms can be a pretty major change. A species that is evolved in a separate habitat will be susceptible to different limiting factors, different predators, different energy sources, and different climates. If the new habitat's limiting factors fail to restrict the species' growth, it will continue to multiply, out-competing native organisms for resources and disrupting the entire ecosystem. Species are sometimes introduced into new habitats through natural factors, like storms, ocean currents, or climate shifts. The majority of invasive species, though, are introduced by humans.