Species Roles: Native, Non-Native, Indicator, Keystone

Roles Species Play in Ecosystems

Learning outcome:

Define the four different roles species play in an ecosystem

Identify the four roles.

​Indicator Species

​Keystone Species

• Sensitive to changes in an ecosystem.

• Provide early warnings of community and ecosystem change

• Affect the type and abundance of other species in an ecosystem.

• Regulate populations of other species

• Population may crash if keystone species removed from the ecosystem.

• Red-cockaded woodpeckers in Virginia.