Once upon a time, there was a beautiful old-growth cedar forest in perfect equilibrium. Every plant and animal in this forest had its place and they all worked together to maintain a balance: detritivores digested organic matter and turned it into nutrients, nutrients and sunlight allowed new saplings to grow and feed herbivores, which in turn fed carnivores, concentrating and conserving the nutrients until they were once again returned to the earth. The system maintained this state for hundreds of years. Over time however, some of the oldest trees grew so large that the forest canopy began preventing sunlight from reaching the ground. New saplings could no longer grow and the herbivores began carrying their nutrients elsewhere (followed by the carnivores). The trees began to slowly die from the lack of sustenance. Suddenly, on a dry day, a bolt of lightning struck one of the tallest trees and its dead bark immediately caught fire! The blaze spread quickly and thrust the old forest into chaos and dissorder. The canopy came crashing down in flames, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost. Habitats were destroyed in seconds and over the course of a few days the entire forest was reduced to ash...but the ash was rich in nutrients that the soil hadn't seen in decades. In a matter of weeks, countless R-strategist flora species began competing with one another for the nutrients in the ashes. They took advantage of the chaos: spreading quickly and dying quickly. After a few months of this brutal campaign, the burned grove was completely covered in tough, hardy shrubs, seas of grass and a few small herbivores: plants and animals built to survive the elements and each other. The new ecological organization attracted new species, and as the R-strategists were devoured the slow moving K-strategists began to find their niches. Species that could not adapt got outcompeted and replaced by species with longer developmental periods and fewer young. Saplings grew taller than shrubs, their roots went deeper. Carnivores of all shapes and sizes hunted the R-strategist herbivores and allowed faster, craftier herbivores to move in. The process of natural selection took centuries, but eventually the saplings all grew up and the forest began its long journey back towards its original equilibrium.
Or it would have if some company hadn't clear cut it to make napkins.
Or it would have if some company hadn't clear cut it to make napkins.
The End