Ecological collapse

Ecological collapse is when an ecosystem (a community of living things and their environment) breaks down and can't support life anymore. It's like the ecosystem collapsing in on itself - the plants, animals and other living things can't survive and start to disappear. It can happen because of natural changes like drought, or because of things humans do, like pollution or over-hunting. It can take years for an ecosystem to recover from a collapse, if it recovers at all.