Maintaining Balance Within an Ecosystem
Diversity & Ecosystem Organization
- Biodiversity has a major effect on the stability of an ecosystem
- A more diverse ecosystem is better able to survive and adapt to environmental changes or threats
- For example, if the temperature of a species-rich lake rises due to global warming:
- Some species of fish in the ecosystem are unable to cope with the change while others can
- The fish that are able to cope will survive, reproduce and keep contributing to the ecosystem
- The organization of an ecosystem is influenced by the diversity
- including the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors and interdependent relationships,
- Producers, being at the start of the food chains in an ecosystem, have an impact on all other organisms within the system
- Within communities there are keystone species that have a larger impact on the ecosystem than others
- When these species are lost there are several consequences
Keystone Species
- Keystone species are species that have a disproportionate effect on the structure and function of their ecosystem
- Their removal can cause significant changes in the ecosystem, including the loss of other species and possible ecosystem collapse
- By protecting keystone species, the stability of the ecosystem can be maintained, which can in turn benefit other species in the ecosystem
- Examples of keystone species include
- Sea otters, in the kelp forest ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, help to control the population of sea urchins; without this control the sea urchins can overgraze vegetation and leave no food or habitats for other species
- Beavers build their homes in running water, slowing the water flow and creating a wetland habitat which can support many other species
- Elephants, in the grasslands of Africa, consume shrubs and small trees, maintaining the grassland and preventing the growth of larger plants; this maintains food for grazers such as zebras, in turn maintaining the food supply for large predators such as lions
Photo via Unsplash
Sea otters are an example of a keystone species