The GYE includes active geothermal basins, mountains, forests, meadows, and freshwater habitats. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is an enormous and diverse temperate ecosystem stretching across the boundaries of the U.S. Lacking a keystone species, the tidal plain’s biodiversity was cut in half within a year.Īnother example of a predator acting as a keystone species is the presence of gray wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. With the sea stars gone, mussels took over the area and crowded out other species, including benthic algae that supported communities of sea snails, limpets, and bivalves. Pisaster ochraceus, commonly known as purple sea stars, are a major predator of mussels and barnacles on Tatoosh Island. state of Washington, had a huge effect on the ecosystem. Paine's research showed that removing a single species, the Pisaster ochraceus sea star, from a tidal plain on Tatoosh Island in the U.S. The entire concept of keystone species was founded on research surrounding the influence of a marine predator on its environment. Just a few predators can control the distribution and population of large numbers of prey species. The way these animals influence food webs varies from habitat to habitat.Ī keystone species is often, but not always, a predator.
However, almost all examples of keystone species are animals that have a huge influence on food webs. The ecosystem would be forced to radically change, allowing new and possibly invasive species to populate the habitat.Īny organism, from plants to fungi, may be a keystone species they are not always the largest or most abundant species in an ecosystem. This means that if the species were to disappear from the ecosystem, no other species would be able to fill its ecological niche. Keystone species have low functional redundancy. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. A keystone species is an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem.
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