Editing Ecosystem engineer (section)

==Examples==

===Terrestrial environments===
[[File:Beaver dam on Smilga.JPG|thumb|left|Beaver dam on [[Smilga (river)|Smilga River]] in [[Lithuania]]]]
Besides the previously mentioned beaver acting as an ecosystem engineer, other terrestrial animals do the same. This may be through feeding habits, migration patterns or other behaviors that result in more permanent changes.

Research has suggested primates as ecosystem engineers as a result of their feeding strategies – [[frugivory]] and [[folivory]] – making them act as seed dispersers.<ref name= Chapman /> As a whole primates are very abundant and feed on a large quantity of fruit that is then distributed around their territory. Elephants have also been designated ecosystem engineers as they cause very large changes to their environment whether it be through feeding, digging or migratory behavior.<ref name= Hayes>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.04.045 | doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.04.045 | title=Elephants (And extinct relatives) as earth-movers and ecosystem engineers | date=2012 | last1=Haynes | first1=Gary | journal=Geomorphology | volume=157-158 | pages=99–107 | bibcode=2012Geomo.157...99H | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Prairie dogs]] are another terrestrial form of allogenic ecosystem engineers due to the fact that the species has the ability to perform substantial modifications by burrowing and [[Bioturbation|turning soil]]. They are able to influence soils and vegetation of the landscape while providing underground corridors for [[arthropods]], [[avians]], other small [[mammals]], and [[reptiles]]. This has a positive effect on species richness and diversity of their habitats which results in the prairie dogs being labelled as keystone species.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baker|first1=Bruce W.|last2=Augustine|first2=David J.|last3=Sedgwick|first3=James A.|last4=Lubow|first4=Bruce C.|date=1 February 2013|title=Ecosystem engineering varies spatially: a test of the vegetation modification paradigm for prairie dogs|journal=Ecography|language=en|volume=36|issue=2|pages=230–239|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07614.x|bibcode=2013Ecogr..36..230B |issn=1600-0587}}</ref>

Arthropods can also be ecosystem engineers, such as [[spider]]s, ants, and many types of [[larva]]e that create shelters out of leaves, as well as [[gall-inducing insect]]s that change the shapes of plants.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Shelter-Building Insects and Their Role as Ecosystem Engineers |journal=Neotropical Entomology |date=2015-12-02 |last1=Cornelissen |first1=T |last2=Cintra |first2=F |last3=Santos |first3=J C |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1007/s13744-015-0348-8 |pmid=26631227 |s2cid=17978664 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13744-015-0348-8 |accessdate=2021-06-15 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Bark beetle|Bark beetles]] are an ecosystem engineer of forest ecosystems and can affect fire spread and severity when attacking their host pine species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Harvey |first1=Brian J. |last2=Donato |first2=Daniel C. |last3=Romme |first3=William H. |last4=Turner |first4=Monica G. |date=2014 |title=Fire severity and tree regeneration following bark beetle outbreaks: the role of outbreak stage and burning conditions |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29210226 |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=24 |issue=7 |pages=1608–1625 |doi=10.1890/13-1851.1 |issn=1051-0761 |pmid=29210226|bibcode=2014EcoAp..24.1608H }}</ref>

Not only animals are ecosystem engineers. Fungi are able to connect regions that are distant from one another and translocate nutrients between them.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Boddy|first1=Lynne|last2=Watkinson|first2=Sarah C.|title=Wood decomposition, higher fungi, and their role in nutrient redistribution|journal=Canadian Journal of Botany|date=31 December 1995|volume=73|issue=S1|pages=1377–1383|doi=10.1139/b95-400}}</ref> Doing so they create nutritional niches for xylophagous invertebrates,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Filipiak|first1=Michał|last2=Sobczyk|first2=Łukasz|last3=Weiner|first3=January|title=Fungal Transformation of Tree Stumps into a Suitable Resource for Xylophagous Beetles via Changes in Elemental Ratios|journal=Insects|date=9 April 2016|volume=7|issue=2|pages=13|doi=10.3390/insects7020013|pmc=4931425|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Filipiak|first1=Michał|last2=Weiner|first2=January|last3=Wilson|first3=Richard A.|title=How to Make a Beetle Out of Wood: Multi-Elemental Stoichiometry of Wood Decay, Xylophagy and Fungivory|journal=PLOS ONE|date=23 December 2014|volume=9|issue=12|pages=e115104|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0115104|pmid=25536334|pmc=4275229|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k5104F|doi-access=free}}</ref> supply trees with nitrogen translocated from previously predated animals<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wardle|first1=D. A.|title=Ecological Linkages Between Aboveground and Belowground Biota|journal=Science|date=11 June 2004|volume=304|issue=5677|pages=1629–1633|doi=10.1126/science.1094875|pmid=15192218|bibcode=2004Sci...304.1629W|s2cid=36949807}}</ref> or even form an "underground pipeline" that redistributes carbon between trees.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Klein|first1=T.|last2=Siegwolf|first2=R. T. W.|last3=Korner|first3=C.|title=Belowground carbon trade among tall trees in a temperate forest|journal=Science|date=14 April 2016|volume=352|issue=6283|pages=342–344|doi=10.1126/science.aad6188|pmid=27081070|bibcode=2016Sci...352..342K|s2cid=33458007}}</ref> Thus fungi are engineers controlling [[nutrient cycle]]s in ecosystems.
 
===Marine environments===
[[File:Eilat Scuba Parrotfish.JPG|thumb|Parrotfish]]
In marine environments, [[filter feeders]] and [[plankton]] are ecosystem engineers because they alter turbidity and light penetration, controlling the depth at which [[photosynthesis]] can occur.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Berke | first1 = Sarah K | year = 2012 | title = Functional Groups of Ecosystem Engineers: A Proposed Classification with Comments on Current Issues | doi = 10.1093/icb/icq077 | pmid = 21558195 | journal = Integrative and Comparative Biology | volume = 50 | issue = 2| pages = 147–157 | doi-access = free }}</ref> This in turn limits the primary productivity of [[benthic zone|benthic]] and [[pelagic zone|pelagic]] habitats<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Abrahams | first1 = MV | last2 = Kattenfeld | first2 = MG | year = 1997 | title = The role of turbidity as a constraint on predator–prey interactions in aquatic environments | journal = Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume = 40 | issue = 3| pages = 169–74 | doi=10.1007/s002650050330| bibcode = 1997BEcoS..40..169A | s2cid = 24748783 }}</ref> and influences consumption patterns between [[trophic level|trophic]] groups.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hartman | first1 = EJ | last2 = Abrahams | first2 = MV | year = 2000 | title = Sensory compensation and the detection of predators: the interaction between chemical and visual information | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | volume = 267 | issue = 1443| pages = 571–75 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.1039| pmid = 10787160 | pmc = 1690576 }}</ref>

Another example of ecosystem engineers in marine environments would be [[scleractinian corals]] as they create the framework for the habitat most coral-reef organisms depend on.<ref name=Wild>{{cite journal | last1 = Wild | first1 = Christian | display-authors = etal  | year = 2011 | title = Climate change impedes scleractinian corals as primary reef ecosystem engineers | doi = 10.1071/mf10254 | journal = Marine and Freshwater Research | volume = 62 | issue = 2| pages = 205–215 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2011MFRes..62..205W }}</ref> Some ecosystem engineers such as coral have help maintaining their environment. [[Parrotfish]] often help maintain coral reefs as they feed on macroalgae that competes with the coral.<ref name= Bozec>{{cite journal | last1 = Bozec | first1 = Yves-Marie | display-authors = etal  | year = 2013 | title = Reciprocal facilitation and non-linearity maintain habitat engineering on coral reefs | journal = Oikos | volume = 122 | issue = 3| pages = 428–440 | doi=10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20576.x| bibcode = 2013Oikos.122..428B | citeseerx = 10.1.1.457.9673 }}</ref> As this relationship is mutually beneficial, a positive feedback cycle is formed between the two organisms, making them both responsible for creating and maintaining coral reef ecosystems.<ref name= Bozec />

[[Whale|Whales]] are also being increasingly recognised for their role as ecosystem engineers despite the loss of up to 90% of their numbers during the [[History of whaling|commercial whaling era]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roman |first1=Joe |last2=Estes |first2=James A |last3=Morissette |first3=Lyne |last4=Smith |first4=Craig |last5=Costa |first5=Daniel |last6=McCarthy |first6=James |last7=Nation |first7=Jb |last8=Nicol |first8=Stephen |last9=Pershing |first9=Andrew |last10=Smetacek |first10=Victor |date=September 2014 |title=Whales as marine ecosystem engineers |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1890/130220 |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |language=en |volume=12 |issue=7 |pages=377–385 |doi=10.1890/130220 |bibcode=2014FrEE...12..377R |issn=1540-9295}}</ref> Whales defecate at the surface and release nutrients that boost the growth of phytoplankton. As whales migrate across the oceans, and move up and down the water column, they help to spread these nutrients in a process that is known as the "[[Whale feces|Whale Pump]]".