2.06 Homeostasis: Balance in the Community

Time to Reflect

Ecosystems around the world are changing as we speak. New ones are developing on freshly barren ground, and disturbed areas are being repopulated.

The landslide area we just went through and the forest fires both resulted in very devastated ecosystems, yet they are rebounding. As we continue down the trail take a moment to review some key topics from this adventure.

• Homeostasis is a natural balance in the ecosystem that all living things must have to survive.
• Primary succession is the development of a new community from an area that starts out as new rock surfaces, such as a volcanic eruption or a glacier receding.
• Secondary succession is the development of a new community after a disaster changes an existing community.

Tour Debrief

To complete this activity make sure that you have:

• added the new terms and their meanings to your Module 2 glossary page.
• visited Surtsey Island, one of the newest place on Earth and that you answered the questions and have them in your Travel Log.
• learned about the fires in Yellowstone and have compared the two images of burned areas to consider what changes occur in secondary succession events.