Will Long

The statement that humans are a keystone species is definitely true. Humans alone have the power to reshape vast expanses of earth by will, and while we may be able to do this, humans are not the most important keystone species on this planet. For example, if humans were to induce a nuclear apocalypse, much of the micro organisms (namely bacteria) on this world would survive. In another 100,000 years, the radiation levels would go down, and the world would again be teeming with these bacteria which could later evolve again. If, in the reverse, all bacteria on the earth suddenly died, life would be totally different. Humans would all die due to the lack of E. Coli in the digestive tract, along with nearly all other multicellular animals; all of which have a mutualistic relationship with bacteria. Many plants would not be able to fix Nitrogen as efficiently without these bacteria, and the world's biosphere may not be able to recover. This was just one example. Humans are a keystone species, and even if we are not the most important, we need to make sure that we are not wasteful of the resources that are provided to us; and we need to bear in mind that our actions will always have some environmental consequences. Whether or not these consequences are positive or negative on the environment depends on the decisions we make, or refuse to make. While removing humans would surely greatly affect the world's ecosystem, stating that we are the most important keystone species is likely not an accurate statement.