EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Keystone species have low functional redundancy. This means that if the species were to disappear from the ecosystem, no other species would be able to fill its ecological niche. The ecosystem would be forced to radically change, allowing new and possibly invasive species to populate the habitat.

Detailed explanation-2: -What Effect Do Keystones Have on an Ecosystem? Keystone species maintain the local biodiversity of an ecosystem, influencing the abundance and type of other species in a habitat. They are nearly always a critical component of the local food web.

Detailed explanation-3: -The species that make up an ecosystem are connected in complex ‘food webs’ of eater and eaten. When one species disappears, its predators can no longer eat it and its prey are no longer eaten by it. Changes in these populations affect others. Such impact ‘cascades’ can be unpredictable and sometimes catastrophic.

Detailed explanation-4: -In a marine ecosystem, or any type of ecosystem, a keystone species is an organism that helps hold the system together. Without its keystone species, ecosystems would look very different. Some ecosystems might not be able to adapt to environmental changes if their keystone species disappeared.

Detailed explanation-5: -Disappearance of a keystone species often results in a complete rearrangement of the food web. This is referred to by the term trophic cascade. If the keystone species is at the top of the food chain, the disappearance of this top predator can cause a top-down trophic cascade.