A Bioregion Transformed Mia Benitez The Pleistocene Epoch, which dated from 2.6 million to 11,000 years ago, transformed the ecological aspects of the Fox River bioregion. This period consists of a glacial stage known as the Wisconsin Glaciation, this stage started 75,000 years ago, which is the last stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. Although the Wisconsin Glaciation is only a stage of this epoch, it transformed this bioregion differently than prior stages. The Pleistocene Epoch prompted both positive and negative effects on the Fox River, which established the bioregion that is present to this day. The dispute on whether this transformation had a valuable or damaging influence is indeterminable because of the way this land has supplied society located nearby the Fox River. Although most researchers have argued that the Pleistocene Epoch and Wisconsin Glaciation had a negative impact because of environmental and animal population loss, this glaciation period set the stage for successive human development through improving the ecosystem, supplying an abundance of natural resources, and a balancing the climate. Even though the Pleistocene Epoch transformed the ecosystem through a destructive natural process, it established land that would cultivate a new ecosystem. Illinois’s northern region, which includes the Fox River, was covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch. During the Wisconsin Glaciation, abrupt climate changes occurred due to a shift in the Earth’s orbit and magnetic field, resulting in an increase in temperatures and volcanic activity. These changes caused glaciers to continuously melt, resulting in long-term flooding to destroy prior biomes and life surrounding the glacier. Animal populations like the stag moose and giant beavers went extinct due to the sudden loss of habitat.
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