Editing Ecosystem engineer (section)

==Importance==
Being able to identify ecosystem engineers in an environment can be important when looking at the influence these individuals may have over other organisms living in the same environment – especially in terms of resource availability.<ref name= Chapman>{{cite journal | last1 = Chapman | first1 = Colin A | display-authors = etal  | year = 2013 | title = Are primates ecosystem engineers? | doi = 10.1007/s10764-012-9645-9 | journal = International Journal of Primatology | volume = 34 | pages = 1–14 | s2cid = 3343186 }}</ref> It's also vital to recognize that ecosystem engineers are not organisms that directly provide others with living or dead tissue. In other words, they are identified as engineers because of their ability to modify resources, not because of their trophic effect.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last1=Jones|first1=Clive G.|last2=Lawton|first2=John H.|last3=Shachak|first3=Moshe|date=1994|title=Organisms as Ecosystem Engineers|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3545850|journal=Oikos|volume=69|issue=3|pages=373–386|doi=10.2307/3545850|jstor=3545850 |bibcode=1994Oikos..69..373J |issn=0030-1299|url-access=subscription}}</ref> While the impact of ecosystem engineers can be as great as keystone species, they differ in their types of impact. Keystone species are typically essential because of their trophic effect, while ecosystem engineers are not.

As with keystone species, ecosystem engineers are not necessarily abundant. Species with greater density and large per capita effect have a more easily-noticeable effect, but less abundant species can still have a large impact. A prime example is the mud shrimp ''[[Filhollianassa filholi]]'', an ecosystem engineer with a small population density that nevertheless affects the temporal and spatial growth of macrofauna with its burrow structures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Berkenbusch|first1=K.|last2=Rowden|first2=A.A.|date=2003|title=Ecosystem engineering — moving away from 'just-so' stories|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24058163|journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology|volume=27|issue=1|pages=67–73|jstor=24058163 |issn=0110-6465}}</ref>

The presence of some ecosystem engineers has been linked to higher species richness at the [[landscape]] level. By modifying the habitat, organisms like the beaver create more habitat heterogeneity and so can support species not found elsewhere.<ref name= Wright /> Thoughts may be that similar to other [[umbrella species]] by conserving an ecosystem engineer you may be able to protect the overall diversity of a landscape.<ref name= Wright /> Beavers have also been shown to maintain habitats in such a way as to protect the rare [[Saint Francis' satyr]] butterfly and increase plant diversity.<ref name= Bartel>{{cite journal | last1 = Bartel | first1 = Rebecca A | last2 = Haddad | first2 = Nick M | last3 = Wright | first3 = Justin P | year = 2010 | title = Ecosystem engineers maintain a rare species of butterfly and increase plant diversity | journal = Oikos | volume = 119 | issue = 5| pages = 883–890 | doi=10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.18080.x| bibcode = 2010Oikos.119..883B }}</ref>

[[Biodiversity]] may also be affected by ecosystem engineer's ability to increase the complexity of processes within an ecosystem, potentially allowing greater [[species richness]] and diversity in the local environments. As an example, beavers have the capacity to modify riparian forest and expand wetland habitats, which results in an increase of the diversity of the habitats by allowing a greater number of species to inhabit the landscape. [[Coral reef|Coral-reef habitats]], created by the ecosystem engineer coral species, hold some of the highest abundances of aquatic species in the world.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Biodiversity effects of ecosystem engineers are stronger on more complex ecosystem processes|journal = Ecology|date = 1 September 2013|issn = 1939-9170|pages = 1977–1985|volume = 94|issue = 9|doi = 10.1890/12-1385.1|language = en|first1 = Adriano|last1 = Caliman|first2 = Luciana S.|last2 = Carneiro|first3 = João J. F.|last3 = Leal|first4 = Vinicius F.|last4 = Farjalla|first5 = Reinaldo L.|last5 = Bozelli|first6 = Francisco A.|last6 = Esteves|pmid = 24279269| bibcode=2013Ecol...94.1977C }}</ref>