keystone species

noun

A species that exerts a large, stabilizing influence throughout an ecological community, despite its relatively small numerical abundance.

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Meanings

nounkeystone species (plural keystone species)
  1. biologyA species that exerts a large, stabilizing influence throughout an ecological community, despite its relatively small numerical abundance.

    Megafauna are called ʻkeystone speciesʼ because when they become extinct the entire arch of the ecosystem can collapse.

    2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 227
Cite this entry
APA

keystone species. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keystone%20species

MLA

“keystone species.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keystone%20species. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “keystone species,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keystone%20species.

Source: keystone species on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.