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Keystone Species

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Animals' Influence on the Landscape and Ecological Importance

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Abstract

The functional role of keystone species is considered by way of examples. The focus is on termites, beavers, and kangaroo rats.

While many animal species are acting as ‘ecosystem engineers’, the term ‘keystone species’ in its proper sense should be restricted to cases where ecosystem stability, structure, function and dynamics are determined by only one species. In so doing, numbers of ‘keystone species’ will be considerably reduced. The decline or extinction of a keystone species will be followed by fundamental changes of its habitat and biocoenosis. Related animal species influencing their habitats in a combined action (e.g.; kangaroo rats) have been called a ‘keystone species guild’.

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    Friedrich-Karl Holtmeier

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Holtmeier, FK. (2015). Keystone Species. In: Animals' Influence on the Landscape and Ecological Importance. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9294-3_4

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