Colonisation (biology)

Colonisation (biology) is when an organism from one place moves to another place and takes up residence there. It's a bit like people moving to a new town - a single person, or a whole family, might move from their old home and set up a new home in the new town. The same thing happens in nature - animals or plants might decide to live in a new place. Colonisation (biology) usually happens when the new place has something that the original home didn't have, like food or shelter. When the new organisms arrive at the new place, they interact with the environment, competing and cooperating with the existing organisms, and sometimes this can be a good thing, because they introduce new genes and new ideas that the environment needs to survive.