Keystone Species Notes:
- Definition: An important organism with the ability of keeping an ecosystem functional.
- An ecosystem will not continue without the keystone species
- Though all animals rely on each other, a keystone species has actions with more importance to the ecosystem
- If the species is extinct in the ecosystem, a chain of disasters will suddenly happen.
- A disappearance in the species will force the native animals out as new ones will overtake it.
- Theory of keystone species was thought of by zoologist, Robert T. Paine, in 1969.
- Keystone species examples:
- Sea otters which control the sea urchin population
- Elephants which keep a Savannah the way it is and not a forest.
- Foundation Species: A species that create and maintain a habitat that will support many other species
- Umbrella Species: Like a keystone species, in which they are depended on by other organisms, but are different because they are migratory and require a large space.
- Indicator species: A species that changes very sensitively to it's habitat.