Humanshavealwayshadadisproportionateamountofinfluenceontheenvironment. Overharvesting,overhunting,andpollutioncausesmanyflourishingspeciestodieoutinanunnaturally shortamountoftime.Asspeciesdieout,theecosystemsuffersaseveryspeciesinanecosystemplays auniquerole.Inthelast50years,astheeffectsofextinctionanddeclineinbiodiversityarebecoming apparent,manymeasuresarebeingtakentopreserveendangeredspeciesandecosystems.Passedin 1976,theEndangeredSpeciesActfocusesonfindingandprotectingspeciesonorapproachingthe brinkofextinction.TheonlycriteriafortheprotectionofaspeciesundertheEndangeredSpeciesAct isendangermentofextinction:theoverallinfluenceontheecosystemisnottakenintoaccount. Recently,theeffectivenessoftheacthasbeennoted,andthesearchforaremedybegan.Whilesome arguethattheentireecosystemshouldbetakencareofthroughthevagueprocessofecosystem management,themoreefficientsolutionistofocusonprotectingindividualspeciesthatplaykeyrolesin theirenvironment. WiththequestionableeffectivenessoftheEndangeredSpeciesAct,manyconservationistshave becomeproponentsofmonitoringandattemptingtopreservetheentireecosystemratherthanparticular speciesorpopulations.

Ratherthanfocusingonaspecificspecies,theyadvocatemethodsdesignedto savealloftheinhabitantsatonetime.Althoughthereisnocompleteagreementaboutwhatahealthy ecosystemis,proponentsofecosystemmanagementusuallysupportvagueattemptstopreservethe environmentortomaintainbiodiversity(Simberloffetal.,1997).However,itisverydifficulttodo thiswithoutfocusingonindividualspecies(Simberloffetal.,1997).Formanyothers,ecosystem managementistheconservationoftheprocessesandcycleswithintheecosystem(Simberloffetal., 1997).Whilethismayaidthehealthoftheecosystem,protectingtheprocessesofanecosystemdoes

notguaranteethehealthoftheindividualspecieswithinit,assomespecieshavelittleornorelationto thelargerprocessesthattakeplace(Simberloffetal.,1997).Asidefromthat,theconceptofan ecosystemisnotveryapparent,anditisoftendifficulttodrawaboundarybetweendifferent ecosystems,makingitdifficulttofocusonkeepingonlyoneofthemhealthy(Simberloffetal.,1997). Finally,monitoringandconservingtheentireecosystempreventsscientistsfromperformingobservations ofsinglespeciesandgaininginsighttotheirbiology,aswellastheirroleintheecosystem(Simberloffet al.,1997).Eventhoughpreservingentireecosystemsmayseemmorecosteffectivethanpreserving individualspecies,itisdifficulttofollowthroughandexecutetheconcept.Whilesavingallthespeciesin anecosystematoncemayseemlikeagoodidea,thevaguenessoftheconceptofecosystem managementmakesitnearlyimpossibletoexecute. Amoreapplicablemethodofpreservationfocusesonindividualspecies,specificallyflagship, umbrella,andkeystonespecies.Flagshipspeciesareusuallylargevertebratesthathavethepotentialof gatheringpublicsupportandpossiblefunding.Whileflagshipspecies,liketheFloridaPanther,can garnermuchpublicsupport,theyareoftenverydifficulttoconserve(ShraderFrechetteandMcCoy, 1993),andthereisnoguaranteethattheflagshipspecieswillalsohavesomelargereffectonother organismsintheecosystem.Also,ifconservationresultsareunsuccessful,asflagshipspeciesareoften difficulttoconserve,publicinterestinconservationingeneralmayalsodecrease.Umbrellaspeciesare thosethathaveamassiverangeofhabitats.Thethoughtisthatbysavingaspecieswithsuchawide habitat,manyotherspecieswillbesavedintheprocess.Whileconservingumbrellaspecieswill certainlyaffectotherspeciesinsomeway,itisdifficulttodeterminethelikelihoodofsurvivalforother speciesundertheumbrella,orinthesamehabitat,makingtherelativebenefitofconservingtheumbrella

speciesdifficulttodetermineaswell(Simberloffetal.,1997).Thekeystonespeciesisanorganismthat playsakeyroleinitsenvironment.Usually,itisdifficulttodeterminewhichspeciesarekeystone speciesuntiltheyarealreadyendangered.Almostanytypeofspeciescanbeakeystonespecies. Whilemanykeystonespeciesarepredators,likethekeystonepredator,Pisasterorchraceus,aseastar thatkeepssessileinvertebratesincheck,(Mengeetal.,1994),thereareplentyofspeciesthatplayvital rolesintheirecosystems.Someplantkeystones,knownaskeystonemutualists,supportmanyanimal specieswho,inturn,supportotheranimalspecies(Simberloffetal.,1997).Otherspecies,likethe beaver,changethephysicalstructureoftheenvironment(Simberloffetal.,1997).Someprovideasort ofmicrohabitatthatotherspeciescanuseforshelter,asinthecaseofthegophertortoise,whose burrowsarehometomorethan332otherspecies.Conservingkeystonespeciesisoftenmuchmore costeffectivethananyothermethodofconservation,andoftenprovidesnewinsightstomanaging problemswhileavoidingtheambiguitiesassociatedwithconservingentireecosystems.(Simberloffet al.,1997) Keystonespeciesplayavitalroleintheirenvironments,manifestingpositiveandnegativeeffects basedontheirhealth.OneexampleisthebisonoftheNorthAmericanTallgrassPrairie(Knappet al.,1999).Bison,arecoveringspecies,aregrazinganimals.Theygrazeonthedominanttallgrassofthe prairie,whileleavingtheforbs,atypeofwoodconsumedbyover350otherspecies.Bisonare essentialtotheprocessofnutrientredistributionandcycling.Wallowing,orrunning,playsavitalrolein prairiepatchdynamics,andallowsforwaterretentioninthespring,creatingasortofmarshlikehabitat forsomecreatures.Finally,thebisoncarcassescreatezonesofextremefertility.Anotherexampleisthe prairiedogofNorthAmerica(Milleretal.,1994).Since1900,theprairiedogpopulationhas

decreasedbyasmuchas98%,mostlyduetoeradicationprogramsseekingtobenefittheU.S.livestock industry.However,withthemassivedecreaseintheprairiedogpopulation,nearly170speciesthat reliedontheprairiedogarefacingsomesortoftroubleasaresult.Severalspeciesthatrelyonthe prairiedoghaveevenbeenplacedontheendangeredspecieslistasaresult.Ontheoppositeside,the recoveryoftheredlinedtriggerfish,originallythreatenedbyoverfishing,showsmuchpromiseinthe EastAfricancoralreefs(McClanahan,T.R.,2000).Theredlinedtriggerfishisakeystonepredatorof seaurchins.However,afteroverfishingthreatenedthetriggerfish,seaurchinswereabletooverrunthe ecosystemandthreatenbiodiversity.Asaresult,theecosystemhasshownsomesignsofrecoveryas theseaurchinpopulationdecreasesonceagain.Anadromousfish,likesalmon,actaskeystonespecies inbothterrestrialandaquatichabitats(Wilsonetal.,1995).Becauseanadromousfishtravelsuchgreat distanceseveryyeartolaytheireggs,theyplayvitalrolesaspreyinmultipleecosystems.Theyarevital asafoodsourceoutatsea,incoastalstreams,infreshwaterlakes,andalsoplayakeyroleinthe cyclingofnutrientswhentheydieinthefreshwaterareas.Thegreatvarietyofhabitatsthiskeystone speciesinhabitsmakesitvitaltobiodiversity.Keystonespeciesplayavitalroleintheirhabitat,andcan evenbranchthroughseveralecosystems. Withthenumberofspeciesapproachingextinction,somesortofactionmustbetakento preservethenumerousecosystemsindanger.TheEndangeredSpeciesActof1976unsuccessfully attemptedthisbypreservinganyendangeredspecies.Whileprotectingecosystemsasawholeseems likeagoodconceptonpaper,executingitisaverydifficultprocess,whichcanleadtoinefficiency. Rather,thekeystonespeciesconceptprovidesaconcise,relativelyinexpensivemethodtotakecareof theissueeffectively.

WorksCited

Knapp,A.,Blair,J.,Briggs,J.,Collins,S.,Hartnett,D.,Johnson,L.,Towne,E.(1999)TheKeystone RoleofBisoninNorthAmericanTallgrassPrairie.BioScience49,3950 McClanahan,T.R.(2000)Recoveryofacoralreefkeystonepredator,Balistapusundulates,inEast Africanmarineparks.BiologicalConservation94,191198 Menge,B.,Berlow,E.,Blanchette,C.,Navarrete,S.,Yamada,S.(1994)TheKeystoneSpecies Concept:VariationinInteractionStrengthinaRockyIntertidalHabitat.Ecological Monographs64,250286 Miller,B.,Ceballos,G.,Reading,R.(1994).ThePrairieDogandBioticDiversity.Conservation Biology8,677681 ShraderFrechette,K.S.andMcCoy,E.D.(1993)MethodinEcology.Strategiesfor Conservation.CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridge. Simberloff,D.(1997)Flagships,Umbrellas,andKeystones:IsSingleSpeciesManagementPasseinthe LandscapeEra?BiologicalConservation83,247257 Willson,M.,Halupka,K.(1995)AnadromousFishasKeystoneSpeciesinVertebrateCommunities. ConservationBiology9,489497