The natural environment, as it is currently understood by science, is in a constant state of flux.
Upheaval, not balance, is the norm.
That we believe otherwise has proven problematic for the teaching of basic ecological literacy
This is an idea that my (seasonal environmental job) coworkers and I have discussed a lot. We can't talk about the natural world as something that is separate from the man-made environment. We have to understand that humans are a part of the ecosystem, and that the positive and negative influences of our built environment are also part of the ecosystem, whether we like it or not. "Untouched" nature isn't really a thing, even though our favorite nature writers like to paint us that picture.
THIS! I learned ecology/evolution through an "equilibrium" lens. Yes, that explanation is valid for some things, but it can't be the backbone of our viewpoint. I can't pretend to have a solution to the way we teach it, but I was reading the article and waiting for this to come up.