I'm not sure this will spark much discussion but I had an idea that inspired me a bit so I wanted to share
Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Serengeti. One of the facts that I learned while there was of the circular pattern that the various animals take through the year with the herd animals going to the most recently thriving grasslands and the carnivores in turn following the herds (and the tourists following them both)
[If you plan to take such a trip, make sure that the herds are likely to be in the area where you are visiting and WHEN you are visiting - I saw a lot but I apparently missed the really epic herds by about a month]
Today, I had an mental image of the natives of Elemental Earth following a similar pattern with some smaller "herd" animals moving into a region of Earth that experiences some periodic, reoccurring change (e.g. reduced density, a "leak" from the Plane of Mineral or the Plane of Water, etc.) with the herds "eating" these pockets of unusual (at least for that plane) material
These herds would be followed in turn by predators that feed on these herds
The herds could also be followed by something that lives off the herd. Perhaps the herds, after feeding, excrete some byproduct (e.g. small gems, air pockets, veins of metal, some compound that is then transformed by the pressures of the plane into something else) which the "follower" creatures feed on (e.g. if the herds produce small gems, perhaps xorn then follow the herds.)
Or the whole thing could be a cycle with Creature A creating a product consumed by Creature B, who produces a product consumed by Creature C, who produces a product consumed by Creature A [expanding this circle of co-dependency as desired] with each species following the other on an eternal migratory route
Admittedly, I liked this idea because I had a picture of my players resting in a pocket of air when a herd of thousands of squirel-sized native creatures burst through the walls; bewildering them and send them tumbling about for damage only to have a larger predator burst in while they try to get their bearings.
The same logic could be applied to all of the elemental planes and might provide a "realistic" explanation for why some of the anomolies exist on these planes.
So, does this sound intriguing to anyone else?
Very definitely so; I was quite interested in the basic eologies of the Elemental planes for a while.
I used in a game that the Caliph of the Djinn causes "seasons" by so migrating the City of Ice and Steel.
The City's winter is when the City floats near the border with Ice. The winds are chill and humid, and clouds of fog are frequent. The City is quiet and many activities take place indoors. Its water reservoirs are topped off.
To cause spring, the Caliph moves the City toward the elemental border with Lightning. The weather becomes stormy and gusty. This is a favorite season of many Djinn, and holiday and hunting parties take place. The City's aeroponic farmers plant the diaphanous-leaved vines that float throughout the Plane of Air and provide the bottom of the food chain for many of the mortal creatures.
Summer, of course, is the war season, when the City floats toward the border with Smoke. Access to the battlefields in the war with the efreet means both opportunity and threat for a while. The air is dry, and occasionally smoggy. Ash fishers dip across the border with nets to fetch flecks which they separate into various types of fertilizers for the gardens. The water reserves are drawn down here.
When they get low, or when the City tires of intense campaigning, the Caliph moves the City into the heart of the Plane (not near the Vacuum border, which is a dark region). Here the winds are calmest, the skies are blue, and the fields grow their best. Near the end of the season there is harvest and festival, before winter comes again.