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- Dictionarykey·stone spe·cies
noun
- 1. a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically.
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noun
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Species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance
A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. The concept was introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and numbers of various ot... Wikipedia