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A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. The concept was introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and ...
A keystone species is a singular species within an ecosystem that others within the same ecosystem, or the entire ecosystem itself, rely upon. [20] Keystone species' are so vital for an ecosystem that without their presence, an ecosystem could transform or stop existing entirely. [20] One way keystone species impact an ecosystem is through ...
By analyzing network structures, one can determine keystone species that are of particular importance. A different class of keystone species is what are termed 'ecosystem engineers'. Certain organisms alter the environment so drastically that it affects many interactions that take place within a habitat.
Soil food web. The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals. Food webs describe the transfer of energy between species in an ecosystem. While a food chain examines one, linear, energy ...
An ecosystem engineer is any species that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat. These organisms can have a large impact on species richness and landscape-level heterogeneity of an area. [1] As a result, ecosystem engineers are important for maintaining the health and stability of the environment they are living in.
Keystone species are species that have large effects, disproportionate to their numbers, within ecosystem food webs. [157] An ecosystem may experience a dramatic shift if a keystone species is removed, even though that species was a small part of the ecosystem by measures of biomass or productivity. [158]
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This leads to increased herbivore pressure on local kelp stands. Deterioration of the kelp itself results in the loss of physical ecosystem structure and subsequently, the loss of other species associated with this habitat. In Alaskan kelp forest ecosystems, sea otters are the keystone species that mediates this trophic cascade.