00:01
To help us understand a keystone species, i drew an actual keystone, which is an architectural design feature over on the left.
00:09
And keystone is the stone that's on the very top in the middle, right under the red arrow.
00:15
It's the stone that's added last in the builder process, and it gives structure and support to the entire arch.
00:23
Basically, the arch is going to fall without it.
00:26
And it can even be held up without any kind of mortar or cement.
00:31
Gravity is going to hold it in there.
00:32
So as long as the keystone's in there, the rest of the structure is going to stand.
00:36
So we can use that to illustrate what a keystone species is when you have an example of a species that has a really big impact on the community, whether it's present or absent, that's going to be typically a keystone species.
00:51
So it doesn't always have to be the biggest, most charismatic, animal like an elephant or a tiger.
00:58
It could be a bacteria.
00:59
It could be very small.
01:01
It doesn't really have to be well known or well studied at all, but most communities have keystone species present...