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Healthy Ecosystems Are Critical to Our Survival

As our understanding of ecosystems has deepened, so has our appreciation of the role of keystone species. A keystone is a wedge-shaped piece of stone at the crown of an arch that locks all the pieces in place. A keystone species holds an ecosystem together. Without such a species, an entire ecosystem would radically change and often collapse altogether.

Keystone species perform in various ways. There are apex predators, which keep a balance among many other populations. When these top predators are removed, ecosystem imbalance follows. Creatures they once hunted multiply rapidly, pushing out other organisms and reducing community diversity. Sea otters are apex predators.

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Featured

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Resources

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What is a simple definition of an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a community plus the environment. Ecology, which is the scientific study of the interactions between populations or between organisms and the environment, can be viewed at the level of an individual, a population, a community, or an ecosystem.

National Geographic

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ScienceDaily

Your source for the latest research news.