Some Animals Are More Equal than Others: Keystone Species and Trophic Cascades

The short film opens with two questions: “So what determines how many species live in a given place? Or how many individuals of the species can live somewhere?”
The research that provided answers to these questions was set in motion by key experiments by ecologists Robert Paine and James Estes. Robert Paine’s starfish exclusion experiments on the coast of Washington state showed that removing starfish from this marine ecosystem has a big impact on the population sizes of other species, establishing the starfish as a keystone species. James Estes and colleague John Palmisano discovered that the kelp forest ecosystems of the North Pacific are regulated by the presence or absence of sea otters, which feed on sea urchins that consume kelp. These direct and indirect effects of sea otters on other species describe a trophic cascade. These early studies were the inspiration for hundreds of investigations on other keystone species and trophic cascades, as well as ongoing studies into the regulation of population sizes and species numbers.

[@merubindono]

Me: *looking at starfish* are you a keystone specie? Starfish: no this is Patrick

[@oliviaso9726]

LOL SPONGEBOB

[@andrewrodriguez3712]

@Tofu Kingpin you literately predicted the future of youtube comments/memes considering this is a 2 year old comment By using the Me: someone else: format

[@annika2041]

anyone else looking through the comments procrastinating your work?

[@DubVisualz]

me

[@traceygonzalez4043]

yes

[@zombies4evadude24]

And all you write is THE

[@exndeath6532]

I have video questions on this bruv

[@josuead6983]

Yup

[@kylaporter8961]

this homework at home is not the move anymore

[@yungcunt1717]

Rip rona

[@renzhang1115]

at least this video is short, my teacher usually assigns two hour videos

[@lourplayss]

True that

[@gillianhorak795]

😂😂I feel

[@zakeenasir5436]

WORD

[@user-gq1on7pv6x]

3:37 green world hypothesis (def.) 13:40 trophic cascades (def.)

[@paigegardner8587]

thanks smmm

[@dinudeshpande7952]

what a god. thanks sm

[@bigj5296]

what a g

[@aby1180]

@@bigj5296 ikr

[@iansandi-horsley8123]

thx

[@ramennoodles8774]

Watch at 1.75 or 2x speed. It's gonna help you a lot if you're doing this for school ;)

[@cececramer750]

i spent 20 minutes reading the comments and forgot to watch the video

[@MrAshton]

He looked so proud of him self when he said "I changed the nature of the system"

[@Gremlin-lc9ne]

😂sooo truee

[@Polar2710]

💀💀💀Your not wrong 💀

[@breanaalvarez8020]

My favorite part!

[@notcrxmps2062]

no one asked

[@nunya5027]

Lol I had the same thought

[@christophercook7442]

As a former student of Dr. Estes’ wife, I was very familiar of their orca research (although in 2001 the phrase “trophic cascade” was not used).

[@SHZpai]

Wait so one man killed an entire ecosystem right?

[@yungcunt1717]

Yes 🥺🙏

[@sogsmcgee2183]

Ye the tide pool kinda got rekt by mussels.

[@imhereforkaisa1555]

on the bright side, his subsequent results gave us knowledge about the topic so we know what to avoid now

[@olgierdvoneverec4135]

No, he did it in a single rock, and didn't kill it, only changed it.

[@samis13git26]

Bro this virus and staying home is getting to my head

[@Leoneidas]

Sean and these Biointeractive pieces are amongst the best quality anywhere. So well done.

[@biointeractive]

Thanks man, loved you in 300. :)

[@44VW44]

It makes me feel despair that so many people have lost or never had a connection to Nature. While this video has lots of facts that are “dry” relative to the experience of being in Nature. The research does provide clues on how to reverse losses of endangered species.

[@dannylim834]

ecologist Robert Paine has passed away on June 13, 2016. This is around seven weeks after this video was posted. Rest in peace, star thrower 😔

[@YoungSinger17]

With All honestly, I am glad to be watching these videos, as they are quite informal, I enjoy watching them repeatedly, & I somehow do not grow bored of any of the videos! They work well as video assignments, as long as the right questions are asked!

[@biointeractive]

Great to hear!

[@coolestone28]

The answers to some questions Green World Hypothesis: The world is green because predators keep herbivores in check. Keystone Species: a animal that were removed from a ecosystem would effect on the ecosystem as a whole Trophic Cascades: Trophic cascade is when you have an apex predator controlling the distribution of resources, and they lead to these cascades of indirect effects lots and lots of indirect effects Hypothesis and Experimentation: Killer whales eat otters. a place called Clam Lagoon. It provided us a site that orcas could not get to. We had no problem catching about 30 animals in two or three Days. And the fact that that little population did not decline when everything else did the orcas

[@leftparentheses]

Tysm! These were the exact questions I had lol

[@gimmee3]

i love you

[@griseldamendoza4584]

thank you! 🥹

[@liekaiguess3889]

Thank youuuu

[@WilsonRobertB]

Leopold described the trophic cascade in his essay "Thinking Like a Mountain" before any of this work was done. What is impressive, is how well Paine and Este's work empirically validates Leopold's anecdotal description.

[@kd8249]

Who here for online school?

[@ethankempton6176]

im in person... this is a flex

[@bigdaddy-or9ms]

me and its 2023

[@cassied9327]

I love hhmi biointeractive, I wish I had them on TV when I was growing up. I was fortunate to have Eyewitness (shows and books). Happy to have these videos now!

[@kCuFfication]

I wish all my ecology lessons were this interesting. Why can't they be??

[@MidasCat]

school, anyone?

[@xyzq3934]

yup..

[@aidan7356]

yup

[@rextlfung]

What a lad. Does all the labor work himself. Truely passionate scientist.

[@mexicansnorlax909]

Am I the only one who hates to watch these when you have hw but loves to watch it on my own time

[@Yeetzer360]

youre not alone

[@dristamiko]

the people who created this wondering why the views are going up dramatically:

[@greatlife1047]

"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others" The title reminded me of the quote from Animal Farm.

[@CesarGarcia-ru8hr]

I'm gonna take a notebook to some forrest and start chucking squirrels and call it an experiment.

[@krazieorigami]

i've tried this, they bite and get upset

[@yungcunt1717]

Elearning is pain

[@frankkolton1780]

I'm not here because of school work or assignment, I'm here because like many people, I enjoy learning and increasing my knowledge of the world around me, bettering myself so I can make better informed decisions on how I live and how I vote to live.

[@Markaroni_n_Cheese]

ooh wee, aren't you special

[@kakashi1784]

no one asked

[@audreysakamoto5388]

who would watch this in there free time i'm only here from school :(

[@TheTypicalGinger]

School is bad....

[@kirancox6123]

its actually really interesting and some people are interested in things like this but yes I am here from school

[@ll-uj5yx]

@@kirancox6123 u sound smart what is a community

[@imhereforkaisa1555]

i thought it was really cool

[@harkiratrandhawa4941]

@@ll-uj5yx all populations in a specific area

[@TKEYLER]

Excellent resource - using this in my ecology class this week. thanks

[@biointeractive]

Excellent!

[@LittleGreenCaterpillar]

Everybody gangsta til the starfish wiggles up on your girl

[@lukasverduzco864]

And eats her

[@LiL_ENIGlvlA]

@@lukasverduzco864 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@whatabouttheearth]

Just play frisbee with it an make its entire eco system go extinct.

[@carrieannnaumoff5594]

Wonderful - clear and easy to understand for my 5th grade students, yet full of profound information from two wonderful scientists. Great film. The students were absolutely fascinated.

[@tatedonnelly3065]

wait what Im a freshman learning this

[@graciejane7599]

@@tatedonnelly3065 LMFAO ME RIGHT NOW

[@historyisfascinating....7528]

@@tatedonnelly3065 same- and I’m in an advanced class

[@rex_online]

I'm in my honors bio sophomore year learning this

[@vibemaster7885]

Im a senior learning about this 💀

[@user-rt6oc6gq1b]

i forgot that it was homework, mindblowing as hell. ecology and nature just too beautiful to handle

[@kyleegorecki541]

Biology students here cuz of coronavirus lmao.

[@JoshuaDunn-oi8ye]

ngl the prof asking what makes the tree green and the answer being top down regulation is the best description of the kind of trick questions college throws at you. Also my third time watching this vid in my bio major.

[@alexandroskaminas]

Spectacular! ecology is truly amazing, especially marine ecology!

[@darklingeraeld-ridge7946]

Excellent. And so much follows from this, that is unsaid. Not least that we should tread lightly.

[@ryzie4478]

wow this is lowkey pretty intriguing

[@arcticmaritimus2263]

So amazing and educational! Thank you

[@12SoccerdudE21]

love this. thank you! will be sharing!!!!

[@inspiringer6418]

I'm doing this for homework but the teacher didn't give us the link so I found it myself. He said it is due tomorrow which is odd I guess.

[@lourplayss]

Inspiringer now I’m doing it for homework

[@archiewatson3097]

@@lourplayss Same

[@azariah2283]

Me too

[@christiandeleg2803]

Bless up

[@levi_104x4]

beautiful! such an important discovery!

[@simyian9932]

8:05 there is a quote by Animal farm James orwell

[@nqs2362]

george

[@whatabouttheearth]

*George Orwell And here is a 1984 refference (the t shirt) 😄: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGrbh3ibjqamadk

[@doodelay]

this is amazing

[@moysesbarbosa8486]

great!

[@user-cr7ln9mg1t]

"Animal Farm" reference in the title not intended, I assume?

[@bw1170]

Hung Nguyen The video *is* about animals after all

[@corydalton7135]

It was intended as stated in his book the Serengeti rules.

[@hollypotthoff2337]

The Animal Farm reference is VERY MUCH intended for this video. Scientists have discovered that certain animals are the major controls for the health of the ecosystem they live in, and are therefore considered keystone species. With this in mind, it is now a fact; some animals really ARE more equal than others, and their ecosystem will literally perish without their existence.

[@Valor708]

it's intended

[@kaylynpamon]

nice catch😭

[@chrislecky710]

A key stone species is a human concept for what is being observed at that point in history given the circumstances that caused the lost of one or two predators...

[@KillJoyNoise97]

Very helpful in revision for ecology

[@adajocabethalvarez8117]

This is why I'm studying Ecology!

[@soda_pop.]

i’m wondering if any of my classmates are also cramming this info last minute

[@jonathanshedd1052]

Mrs. Soroak do be making us watch the video tho

[@m_disulphide]

RIP Robert Paine

[@vidaripollen]

Beautiful

[@biointeractive]

Thank you

[@tigerday9059]

what is the role that competition plays in the relationship between muscles and other crustaceans?

[@alejandrotorres1191]

do not procrastinate, the video is interesting, Don't do it just because it's a homework, do it because you're curious about it. Don't waste time doing something you don't like.

[@connorcallahan6154]

POV: you don't want to be here

[@jr_2810]

Shhhhh, keep it down, they'll find out

[@mafarmerga]

I wish that I could give this more than one thumbs up!

[@poapoapopopoop]

im gonna yeet my exams harder than this dude yeets starfishes

[@EmeraldOnSwitch]

Watching this in class

[@GenericUsername_]

finals go crazy

[@bunnyviperaquatics2108]

Can someone please clarify? What am I missing? This gentlemen tossed these starfish back into the ocean and the ecosystem changed- ok, but why didn’t the starfish come back? Once they hit the water a second time, did they forget how to crawl back on shore?! What kept them from coming back on land? Why wouldn’t they? This is a serious inquiry and I appreciate your feedback in advance! Have a good one!

[@biointeractive]

He kept throwing them back. Plus, starfish move slowly. nautil.us/issue/34/adaptation/the-ecologist-who-threw-starfish

[@Tylerthemusicophile]

I have a question for this video. If otters are the keystone species keeping the urchins from eating all the kelp, what is causing the Urchins to stay in the area when the kelp is gone and they have nothing to eat? Urchins can live for up to 25 years and they spawn yearly, surely that environment cannot support the population anymore if that species going unchecked right?

[@user-id1et5eb1d]

4:33 キーストーン種の紹介 5:51 実験 7:07 キーストーンのイメージ

[@thathagxoxo3001]

LMFAOO THATS MY BIOLOGY TEACHER

[@Taylor-rz7cv]

Miles kids be swaggin

[@bringbackplutonsp]

Jesus Christ these students in the comments are garbage. You can't watch a 20 minute video but ya'll spend hours on tiktok? This video showcases THE pioneer in intertidal ecology and an immensely important concept. Show some respect.

[@msh3l518]

iskit ya dayoooooth

[@beyabeyabe]

oh my god this was so interesting and beautiful

[@junepedley4920]

Nobody killed an entire ecosystem! Paine was able to demonstrate there was such a thing as a keystone species and that removal of a keystone species impacted the biodiversity of the system.

[@doublehelix8330]

Amazing........

[@biointeractive]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@giuliana3113]

sitting in class rn reading these comments plsss

[@kathrynsaysdrinkwater6993]

5:04.

[@Radagast-]

It stands to reason that a finely balanced system relies on the contribution of all the component parts... if each were not integral in some way, then they would disappear. I really don't see that this guy is a groundbreaker for discovering that removing a component from the system causes the system to collapse. Especially as he did it deliberately.

[@kevinmcdunn8058]

Most ecosystems don't behave like this, and aren't "finely balanced." Removing a random species usually has little or no effect. His discovery is that some species, "keystone species," have an outsized influence on an ecosystem relative to their abundance. To a lesser degree he supported the hypothesis about the top-down regulating role of predators generally.

[@johndafoe600]

We must acknowledge our role in this imbalance and make amends.

[@athickie]

Awww the otters are so cute 💖🤗

[@waphol5195]

6:58

[@Star-bm3wo]

2:40

[@charysesay8476]

before even pressing play i knew there would be otters

[@hamoodhabibi8031]

13:06 wait a minute how is he takin notes underwater?

[@rebeccahowell9531]

There’s water proof paper. My swim coach had some for taking attendance. She didn’t know how it worked either tho :)

[@DrRECM]

Crafoord Prize for Robert Paine?

[@chrislecky710]

Dynamic systems are consitently in flux people, so a key stone species is provable and disprovable according to when its observed, this is how life has sustained no matter the situation or circumstances on our planet..

[@thepro2u720]

Umm... anyone else find it interesting how he died about a month after this video?

[@GMDRykryk]

this aint short wtf

[@Neptune-tz6by]

Why are there any thumbs down???? Pretty straight forward folks…...

[@jaidahmontgomery4877]

because its boring

[@gabriellacheetham7120]

honors biology?

[@abigailheh6545]

Gabriella Cheetham grade 7, basic science class page and a half of notes due Tuesday

[@nelliem7395]

I am a trashcan I am not a trashcant same

[@diamondgames123]

Nope normal 6th grade science

[@saturnn2623]

9th honors here 👍

[@jaidahmontgomery4877]

yep 9th

[@nadianeff3353]

Having to watch 20 minute videos like this for e learning is making me loose brain cells smh

[@olivia-cb2qq]

Can u help me with my bio cer for this

[@petraking4060]

It's rough... still chewing on it, but here it is :-) 6. CER Question: What happens when you remove the predator starfish from a single outcrop? For a 1 ½ years & 3 years • Claim (1 sentence- Scientifically accurate -Completely answers the question using words from the question) • Evidence - scientific data that supports the claim (use the numbers or % or fractions…) • Reason: How does evidence support - or not support- the claim? Since (reason) ___________________________________________________________ Then (then) ____________________________________________________________

[@snazz5318]

12:20 - 15:26 (just a bookmark for myself)

[@Rcganti]

Literally starfish horror movie

[@whatabouttheearth]

According to Wikipedia when Robert Paine was in the US Army he was "the Batallion gardener" 😄, anyone who's been in the green branches knows how rediculous that sounds. A gardener at all is WTF, let alone only Batallion level.

[@frankmaher7326]

For the answers just open the transcript

[@wongviian9631]

Ohhh thks uwu

[@DubVisualz]

what kind of question did professor smith ask his class?

[@Star-bm3wo]

13:38

[@danielaandrade3124]

6:18 YEET

[@daddyyeah5296]

All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others

[@michaelwoodsmccausland915]

I/We are impacting the tropic Cascade! I/We have to adapt to fit into the micro systems that function as a homeostatic symbiotic relationship with our interconnected Universe! Shine Bright! MWM

[@ronallonog3274]

ngl that star fish got yeeted

[@obiwahndagobah9543]

All the hunters, who say hunting wolfes is healthy for the Environment, should watch this

[@12SoccerdudE21]

in some ecosystems, wolves are a problem and do need humans to keep it from getting worse. especially because the sections of wild are broken up by cities and roads like never before which confuse the system as well, and force groups of animals in smaller areas. also, for every square mile of city, there are tens of miles of farm for food that you and everyone else eats, and farmers are not so wealthy that they can replace unsold stock. :) walk in peace!

[@Knapweed]

Humans, "We are the Apex predator." Coronavirus/smallpox/black death/influenza, "Hold my little, tiny beer." The rest of the planet, "Hoooray!"

[@preyapatel6285]

I have to keep pausing the video wish there was a answer key online somewhere

[@financialprofessionals]

15:09 is it just me or does that guy kinda look like Adler from COD: Cold War?

[@wagibototrapo]

if we look deeper... the culprit is human

[@kakashi1784]

oooohh scaryyyy