Keystone species concept
Concepto de especie clave
- Date
- 1969 · confidence high
- Place
- Makah Bay, Washington, United States
- Credited to
- Robert T. Paine
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
By experimentally removing the starfish Pisaster ochraceus from intertidal pools in Washington, Paine showed that a single predator species can sustain an entire ecosystem's diversity: without it, the mussel Mytilus californianus exploded in numbers and diversity fell from 15 to 8 species in three years.
What it led to
- Conceptual framework for conservation biology centered on keystone species
- Scientific justification for protecting threatened apex predators