Organisms populating a habitat interact one with another trough a complex predetor-pray dynamics. That complex ecosystem created, in order to stay afloat and not disintegrate, must have, within it, a local internal ecological balance (ecobalance) of sorts that incorporates the influences of all its residents. How such an ecobalance can be achieved within each ecological packet (ecopack) is the subject of this page.

Robert T. Paine

starfish

It was Robert T. Paine in the 1960s that noted a dramatic difference that existed between the lively water enclaves that contain starfishes and the moribund water enclaves that do not have them. As such, he reasoned that somehow the existence of starfish is key in keeping a healthy ecobalance in the water enclave. He coined the name keystone species (abbreviated by us keyspec) of that influential species.

Clearly the starfish, at its basic level of existence is at parity with all other fishes. What made the starfish different was its remarkable influence that it had on the entire water enclave. That dichotomy created (equal in existence, excessive in influence), prompted biologists to search for discovering the most influential species that should exist in each habitat, be it in the aquatic, terrestrial or aerial ones. A new page in evolutionary biology has just been opened by Paine.

The new page that Paine has opened begins with the simple but fundamental recognition that species of equal standing differ in the level of influence they exert in their habitat. And that leads to

The Twenty-Seventh Foundational Universal Recognition Of Nature (27th FURON):  Paine's Conjecture  Each habitat is held together by a keystone species (keyspec).

The existence of keyspecs as remarkable as it is, needs further be explored as in TRUTON casuality is its backbone. How keyspecs are being born and gain that dominance influence? Also, and most importantly, from Darwin's natural selection (natsel) could the existence of keystone species be derived and if not why is that?

Those are indeed big questions that need answers as they represent the underlying core of keyspecs. Interesting that the subject herein is similar to the one presented in biological altruism (bioALT). And that is because in both cases, we apply natsel not to an individual but to and entire group, as a whole of an ecopack.

Natsel select those ecopacks that is equiped with keyspecs because only they can carry on in perpetuating Life. As from the theory of evolution we cannot choose which member will became a "soldier/martyr" nor which member will become a keyspec.

The nature of keyspecs are most fascinating indeed being in majority represented by predators, but not exclusively by them. Stunningly, bacteria and viruses are also part of the keyspec family. Prime example of non-predatory keystones are the sea otters, beavers and African elepfants.

    

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