Essential Knowledge 4.C.4

The diversity of species within an ecosystem may influence the stability of the ecosystem.

Natural and artificial ecosystems with fewer component parts and with little diversity among the parts are often less resilient to changes in the environment.

Keystone species, producers, and essential abiotic and biotic factors contribute to maintaining the diversity of an ecosystem. The effects of keystone species on the ecosystem are disproportionate relative to their abundance in the ecosystem, and when they are removed from the ecosystem, the ecosystem often collapses.

Students should be able to:

LO 4.27 make scientific claims and predictions about how species diversity within an ecosystem influences ecosystem stability.