3 Animals That Keep Their Whole Ecosystem Together

What do gray wolves, elephants, and parrotfish have in common? They re all keystone species, which means they have an especially large impact on their habitat. SciShow explores how these animals keep their ecosystems running. Hosted by: Olivia Gordon Want more SciShow in person? We ll be at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria in Boston on February 25th and 26th! For more information, go to http://www.nerdconnerdfighteria.com/ ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters—we couldn t make SciShow without them! Shout out to Jeremy Peng, Kevin Bealer, Mark Terrio-Cameron, KatieMarie Magnone, Patrick Merrithew, Charles Southerland, Fatima Iqbal, Benny, Kyle Anderson, Tim Curwick, Scott Satovsky Jr, Will and Sonja Marple, Philippe von Bergen, Bella Nash, Bryce Daifuku, Chris Peters, Saul, Patrick D. Ashmore, Charles George, Bader AlGhamdi ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/scishow ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow ---------- Sources: General http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/keystone-species-15786127 http://web.utk.edu/~mnunez/Keystones%20Nunez%20Dimarco.pdf Wolves http://www.yellowstonepark.com/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark_Boyce2/publication/228623397_Wolves_Influence_Elk_Movements_behavior_Shapes_a_Trophic_Cascade_in_Yellowstone_National_Park/links/09e41508036f97539e000000.pdf http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/25603/RippleWilliam.Forestry.TrophicCascadesYellowstone.pdf https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/elkinfo.htm Elephants http://nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/keystone-species/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvsWXyIseS0 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1146609X11000154 http://thinkelephants.blogspot.co.uk/ http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/3/698 https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/importance-elephant-poop http://www.livescience.com/5650-frogs-find-home-elephant-dung.html Parrotfish http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/02/to-save-coral-reefs-start-with-parrotfish/ http://www.icriforum.org/caribbeanreport https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1891-Status%20and%20Trends%20of%20Caribbean%20Coral%20Reefs-%201970-2012-2014Caribbean%20Coral%20Reefs%20-%20Status%20Report%201970-2012%20(1).pdf Image Sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9A%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E6%9C%A8_Aspen_Trees_(8178058710).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:African_Forest_Elephant.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ornate_Pygmy_Frog_(Microhyla_fissipes)_%E9%A3%BE%E7%B4%8B%E5%A7%AC%E8%9B%994.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Microhyla_rubra.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sphaerotheca.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarus_vetula_(queen_parrotfish)_(San_Salvador_Island,_Bahamas)_(15548372734).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=20&offset=20&profile=images&search=kudu&searchToken=5a246gj4kb5hz9cghc6ro8bc0#/media/File:Kudu_antelope_.JPG https://archive.org/details/ScienceNationCatchingACoralKiller