https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo Combining environmental science with fun en-us 2021-04-21 20:30:26 UTC 2025-11-03 14:20:46 UTC hello@padlet.com 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444499225 Keystone species - a species that has a dramatic impact on the communities and ecosystems it exists within 

• Keystone species maintain biodiversity and carry out a function that no other species in the ecosystem can
• Their ecosystem would change dramatically or even collapse if they become endangered or extinct 
• Examples of keystone species: grey wolves, beavers, sea otters, and more
• Many are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or extinct
• Are vital to not only their communities and ecosystems but to humans as well as we rely on the resources of ecosystems (i.e. food, shelter, etc.)

]]> 2021-04-21 20:30:53 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444499225 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444505642 2021-04-21 20:33:01 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444505642 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444735229 Predatory purple starfish]]> 2021-04-21 22:10:06 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444735229 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444751760 In 1963, when they were removed from a shoreline, the ecosystem's biodiversity collapsed. Its prey, mussels overtook all the other species like algae, barnacles, and snails; creating a monoculture.]]> 2021-04-21 22:19:07 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444751760 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444787285 Trophic cascade - the effects caused by a keystone species' removal or reintroduction to an ecosystem
Ex. the removal of wolves in Yellowstone Park led to dire consequences. When they were reintroduced; the elk population fell, and vegetation grew everywhere, giving beavers more dam materials, which gave homes to fish, reptiles, and other animals.]]> 2021-04-21 22:38:23 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444787285 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444830366

Through the strength of their interactions with other species within their environment

By studying their traits, what they eat, and the habitats they create

]]> 2021-04-21 23:02:27 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444830366 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444869150 Whether directly or indirectly, in what ways do you think the endangerment or extinction of beavers - a significant keystone species - would affect you or your community?]]> 2021-04-21 23:25:24 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444869150 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444873448

Food webs - systems that are crucial in understanding how all animals are interconnected

Studying ecosystems' inhabitants and their relationships with one another allows us to better protect our world's ecosystems

Every animal has a specific diet and thus occupies a tropic niche, a certain place in a food web

By studying what animals eat in the wild, we can predict their chances of survival more accurately

]]> 2021-04-21 23:27:41 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444873448 340889005 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444884591 Episode I]]> 2021-04-21 23:33:52 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444884591 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444894569

They can be any size; a keystone species called the amphipod is the size of a grain of rice

Depending on which ecosystem you look at, basically anything could be a keystone species 

Due to the small size of some keystone species like amphipods, it’s not always easy to protect the species themselves but their habitats 

Protecting keystone species and their habitats is important as we would be saving not only the species itself but other species and their food sources as well

]]> 2021-04-21 23:39:14 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444894569 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444921770 How quickly do you think other species adapt to the effects of the reintroduction or removal of a keystone species, or if they even adapt at all? Do you think effects like invasive species can occur? Can invasive keystone species exist?]]> 2021-04-21 23:53:35 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1444921770 340889005 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1452554666

Trophic cascade, an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling.

]]> 2021-04-23 16:30:11 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1452554666 340889005 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1452564870

There are various types of trophic cascades. A top-down cascade, a bottom-up cascade and subsidy cascade.

• Top-Down Cascade
  • This occurs when a top predator is removed, this will make herbivores much more common which will devastate plant life in the long run.

Bottom-Up Cascade

• This type of trophic cascade occurs when there's a change to the bottom level of the food chain. Vegetation is devastated causing herbivores to die off or migrate elsewhere leaving top predators with nothing. 

Subsidy Cascade

• This occurs when animals rely on food sources that are external to their ecosystem. 

]]> 2021-04-23 16:32:13 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1452564870 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1457508454 All over the world in every ecosystem (aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial)]]> 2021-04-26 02:03:43 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1457508454 340889005 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460293794 When an organism is removed it can change the chemical makeup of the water

• Ex. Lakes 
  • They are vulnerable to trophic cascades and removing the top predators had changed the activity and how the bacteria reacted.

]]> 2021-04-26 16:06:00 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460293794 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460301667 Do you think it’s possible for trophic cascades to be completely reversed? Why or why not?]]> 2021-04-26 16:07:19 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460301667 340889005 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460308577 Sea Otters -> Sea Urchins -> Kelp.
Sea otters would control the sea urchins eating the kelp; they are the keystone species.]]> 2021-04-26 16:08:32 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460308577 348764612 https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460320090 Do you think there can be an overabundance of a keystone species?]]> 2021-04-26 16:10:35 UTC https://padlet.com/348764612/56wr0eehufo12kfo/wish/1460320090