How does homeostasis help us to survive?

Strong homeostasis, whereas structure and reserve do not change in composition. Because the amount of reserve and structure can vary, this allows a particular change in the composition of the whole body (as explained by the Dynamic Energy Budget theory). Weak homeostasis, wherein the ratio of the amounts of reserve and structure becomes constant as long as food availability is constant, even when the organism grows.

This means that the whole body composition is constant during growth in constant environments. Structural homeostasis, wherein the sub-individual structures grow in harmony with the whole individual; the relative proportions of the individuals remain constant. The concept of homeostasis is central to the topic of Ecological Stoichiometry.

There it refers to the relationship between the chemical composition of an organism and the chemical composition of the nutrients it consumes. Stoichiometric homeostasis helps explain nutrient recycling and population dynamics. Historically, ecological succession was seen as having a stable end-stage called the climax (see Frederic Clements), sometimes referred to as the 'potential biodiversity' of a site, shaped primarily by the local climate.

This idea has been largely abandoned by modern ecologists in favor of nonequilibrium ideas of how ecosystems function, as most natural ecosystems experience disturbance at a rate that makes a "climax" community unattainable.