keystone species
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English
Noun
keystone species (plural keystone species)
- (ecology) A species that exerts a large, stabilizing influence throughout an ecological community, despite its relatively small numerical abundance.
- 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 227:
- Megafauna are called ʻkeystone speciesʼ because when they become extinct the entire arch of the ecosystem can collapse.