Ecosystem engineering
Ecosystem engineering is the physical modification of habitats by organisms, changing the availability of resources or conditions for other organisms.
Niche construction: The process by which organisms modify their environments in ways that affect their own or other organisms’ selection pressures. It describes how habitat modification can alter the conditions organisms encounter across generations.
Habitat: The place or type of environment in which an organism or population lives. Engineering changes the physical features that make a place suitable for particular organisms.
Castor canadensis: The North American beaver, a semiaquatic rodent that builds dams and lodges. Its dams alter water flow, sediment retention, and wetland habitat across landscapes.
Ecosystem function: The biological, geochemical, and physical processes that operate within an ecosystem. Habitat modification can change processes such as water retention, nutrient cycling, and productivity.
Ecosystem engineer: An organism that directly or indirectly modulates resource availability to other organisms by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. This related concept identifies the organisms; ecosystem engineering names the process and its effects.
Bioturbation: The disturbance and mixing of soil or sediment by living organisms. Burrowing and sediment mixing physically restructure habitats and alter resource availability.
Ecological niche: The set of environmental conditions and resources that permit a species to survive and reproduce. Engineered changes can shift the conditions and resources available to other species.
African savanna elephant: A large African elephant species that inhabits savannas and other open ecosystems. Its feeding, trampling, and tree removal reshape vegetation and create habitat mosaics.
Biodiversity: The variety of life across genes, species, and ecosystems. Engineered structures can create, remove, or connect habitat for different species.
Foundation species: A species that creates or defines habitat and strongly shapes a community through its abundance or structure. Foundation species may engineer habitat, but the terms emphasize different ecological roles.