Editing Ecosystem engineer (section)

== Classification ==
Ecosystem engineers do have their general types, allogenic and autogenic, but further research has suggested that all organisms can fall under specific cases.<ref name=":04"/> It was proposed that there were six specific cases.<ref name=":04"/> These cases were differentiated by the species' ability to transform their resources to different states, as well as their ability to combat abiotic forces. A state refers to the physical condition of a material and a change in state refers to a physical abiotic or biotic material change<ref name=":04"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Cases of Ecosystem Engineers<ref name=":04"/>
!Case #
!Autogenic or Allogenic
!Rationale
!Example
|-
|1
|Autogenic
|Not considered ecosystem engineering
|Any species that are not considered ecosystem engineers.
|-
|2
|Allogenic
|Transform resources into usable and/or more beneficial forms
|Cows, after eating grass, produce cow pats with their dung and are used by other invertebrates as a food source and a shelter.
|-
|3
|Autogenic
|Organism transforms itself from one state to another and affects distribution and/or availability of resources and/or the traits of the physical environment.
|Coral and forests grow, which induce developmental change in the environment surrounding them
|-
|4
|Allogenic
|Able to transform one material from one state to another
|Beavers can take live trees and turn them into dead trees, then utilize those dead trees to build dams that are shelter for other animals and stabilize water flow in arid areas.
|-
|5
|Autogenic
|Modulate extreme abiotic forces, which then controls resource flow
|Crustose [[coralline algae]] break waves and protect coral reefs from immense amounts of water force.
|-
|6
|Allogenic
|Species falls under one or more of these cases
|[[Geukensia demissa|Ribbed mussels]] secrete [[Byssus|byssal threads]] that bind together to protect sediment and prevent erosion.
|}