What Does Keystone Species Cause Biodiversity?

Keystone species are the main primary driver for diversity. Keystone species are species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically. They cause biodiversity for 3 reasons. First, the keystone species causes the different animals from all around that area to come to where the keystone species is located because the keystone species has what the other species need to survive, a working ecosystem . These animals then all reproduce and grow there creating a diversity between the species. An example of this is in the video “Keystone Species and their role in Biodiversity”, it explains how a keystone species called black tailed prairie dog keeps grasslands maintained with a diversity of plants. Which benefits a diversity of other animals such as cattle. They also dig holes in the ground this causes more homes for animals to use as shelter. Both of these reasons show how these keystone species …show more content…
I learned through my keystone species presentation that without keystone species many of the animals in the ecosystem would have to adapt to their environment differently. In my presentation I studied Killer Whales. Killer Whales controlled over many animals like fish, seals, and sea urchins all the way down to kelp. Going closer into one of the animals it controls various species of fish and sea lions. Without the killer whale which controls the population of the sea lions there wouldn’t be enough fish. This would be true because the sea lions would overpopulate and eat all of the fish because the whale doesn't control the population of the sea lions anymore. The fish will then decrease in diversity. The more unique or rare fish would die off and it would only come down to the same species of fish. Overall, keystone species has a tremendous effect on biodiversity and alters it