#025 The Keystone Life of Coral

In this episode I am going to introduce the concept of a keystone species, the importance of a keystone species and what happens if that species is taken out of an ecosystem. And as you could guess, the keystone species that I am speaking of in this episode is coral. I am going to discuss the importance of our coral reefs, what is happening to them, and why we should truly be concerned. 

This concept of a keystone species  was introduced in 1969 by a zoologist named Robert T Paine. A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large affect on the natural environment relative to its abundance. So what this means is that other species in the ecosystem depend heavily on the presence and activity of the keystone species because this one single species plays an important ecological role in the community. 

So, look at it this way. Every ecosystem has certain species that are critical to the survival of the other species in the system. The keystone species could be a predator or an unassuming plant, but without them the ecosystem may not survive.Scientist commonly site three example of keystone species: predators (such as wolves) , ecosystem engineers (such as beavers) , and mutualists (such as bees pollinating flowers. 

But coral also has a mutualist relationship, also known as a symbiotic relationship, with algae. Each are important to the survival of the other. And this relationship has been going on for 25 million years. 

Learn in this episode just how how human activity of disrupting this important keystone species and how it could producing devastating changes to our planet.  

Always live sustainably because this is how we build a better future. 

Patrick