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The '''balance of nature''', also known as '''ecological balance''', is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or [[homeostasis]], which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some [[negative feedback]] that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance" with the rest of the system. The balance is sometimes depicted as easily disturbed and delicate, while other times it is inversely portrayed as powerful enough to correct any imbalances by itself.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/balance-of-nature-explained/|title=The 'balance of nature' is an enduring concept. But it's wrong.|last=Root|first=Tik|date=2019-07-26|website=National Geographic|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> The concept has been described as "normative", as well as [[teleological]], as it makes a claim about how nature ''should'' be: nature is balanced because "it is ''supposed to be'' balanced".<ref name=":3" />
The theory has been employed to describe how populations depend on each other, for example in predator-prey systems, or relationships between herbivores and their food source.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Van Valen|first=Leigh|author-link=Leigh Van Valen|date=1973|title=Pattern and the Balance of Nature|url=https://www.mn.uio.no/cees/english/services/van-valen/evolutionary-theory/volume-1/vol-1-no-1-pages-31-49-l-van-valen-pattern-and-the-balance-of-nature.pdf|journal=Evolutionary Theory|volume=1|pages=31–44}}</ref> It is also sometimes applied to the relationship between the Earth's ecosystem, the composition of the atmosphere, and
The balance of nature, as a theory, has been largely discredited by scientists working in [[ecology]], as it has been found that constant disturbances leading to chaotic and dynamic changes are the norm in nature.<ref name=":0" /> During the later half of the 20th century, it was superseded by [[catastrophe theory]] and [[chaos theory]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wu|first1=Jianguo|last2=Loucks|first2=Orie L.|date=1995|title=From Balance of Nature to Hierarchical Patch Dynamics: A Paradigm Shift in Ecology|journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology|volume=70|issue=4|pages=439–466|doi=10.1086/419172|jstor=3035824|s2cid=44197757|issn=0033-5770}}</ref> Nevertheless, the idea maintains popularity amongst the general public.<ref name="Zim">{{cite journal|last=Zimmerman|first=Corinne|s2cid=31030799|date=October 2007|title=Ambiguous, circular and polysemous: students' definitions of the "balance of nature" metaphor|journal=Public Understanding of Science|volume=16|pages=393–406|doi=10.1177/0963662505063022|number=4}}</ref><ref name="Kricher2009">{{cite book|last=Kricher|first=John|title=The Balance of Nature: Ecology's Enduring Myth|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0691138985|location=Princeton, New Jersey}}</ref>
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