Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ecological Disturbance02:26

Ecological Disturbance

20.5K
An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
20.5K
Keystone Species01:39

Keystone Species

23.9K
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...
23.9K
Ecological Succession02:17

Ecological Succession

21.0K
Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species create more favorable ecological conditions for subsequent species, such as enhanced nutrient, water, or light availability. In contrast, inhibition happens when early successional species create unfavorable ecological conditions for potential successive species, such as limiting resource availability. In some cases, later successional species...
21.0K
Symbiosis00:58

Symbiosis

36.6K
Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
36.6K
What are Populations and Communities?00:30

What are Populations and Communities?

36.8K
Overview
36.8K
The Soil Ecosystem02:23

The Soil Ecosystem

24.2K
Plants obtain inorganic minerals and water from the soil, which acts as a natural medium for land plants. The composition and quality of soil depend not only on the chemical constituents but also on the presence of living organisms. In general, soils contain three major components:
24.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A voter-model representation of the multi-allelic Moran process: Exact stationary distributions and diversity thresholds from well-mixed populations to complex networks.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same author

Bioenergetic trophic trade-offs determine mass-dependent extinction thresholds across the Cenozoic.

Ecology·2026
Same author

Beyond Co-Occurrence: Multi-Scale Evidence for Segregation-Dominated Plant Networks in the French Alps.

Ecology letters·2026
Same author

BON in a Box: An Open and Collaborative Platform for Biodiversity Monitoring, Indicator Calculation, and Reporting.

Bioscience·2026
Same author

Fire and edge disturbances in the Amazon rainforest: impacts on animal-fruit and seed interactions.

Oecologia·2026
Same author

Simple Seasonal Switches in Food Web Composition Unveil the Complexity of an Arctic Predator-Prey System.

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

Sub1 contributes to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction driven by aging in mice.

Nature communications·2026
Same journal

The BRCA1-A complex restricts replication fork reversal-dependent DNA repair in ATM deficient cells.

Nature communications·2026
Same journal

Signaling downstream of tumor-stroma interaction regulates mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma apicobasal polarity.

Nature communications·2026
Same journal

Click-polymerized polyenamine membranes for efficient lithium extraction.

Nature communications·2026
Same journal

Joint trajectories of brain atrophy, white matter hyperintensities and cognition quantify brain maintenance.

Nature communications·2026
Same journal

Proton shuttling at electrochemical interfaces under alkaline hydrogen evolution.

Nature communications·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 16, 2025

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

19.3K

Diverse interactions and ecosystem engineering can stabilize community assembly.

Justin D Yeakel1,2, Mathias M Pires3, Marcus A M de Aguiar3

  • 1University of California Merced, 5200 Lake Road, Merced, CA, 95343, USA. jdyeakel@gmail.com.

Nature Communications
|July 5, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ecosystem engineers, species that modify their environment, significantly impact community stability. While few engineers can decrease stability, more engineers enhance it by reducing extinctions and their cascading effects.

More Related Videos

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
09:23

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

Published on: March 21, 2025

1.7K
Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities
07:59

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

4.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 16, 2025

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

19.3K
JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
09:23

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

Published on: March 21, 2025

1.7K
Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities
07:59

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

4.0K

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Ecological Networks
  • Community Assembly

Background:

  • Ecological communities are complex networks of species interactions.
  • Existing network models often overlook ecosystem engineers, species that alter habitats.
  • Understanding engineer roles is crucial for ecological network dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To incorporate ecosystem engineering into ecological network assembly models.
  • To investigate the impact of engineers on species colonization and extinction dynamics.
  • To analyze how engineering dependencies affect community stability and diversity.

Main Methods:

  • Developed an ecosystem assembly model incorporating trophic, service, and engineering dependencies.
  • Simulated species colonization and extinction based on these interactions.
  • Analyzed the effects of varying numbers of ecosystem engineers on network properties.

Main Results:

  • The model successfully reproduced key ecological patterns like generalist roles and realistic trophic levels.
  • Ecosystem engineering demonstrated significant, nonlinear effects on extinction rates.
  • Increased numbers of engineers were found to enhance community stability by reducing extinctions.

Conclusions:

  • Ecosystem engineers play a critical role in shaping ecological community structure and dynamics.
  • Engineering can increase community diversity and persistence by facilitating colonization and limiting competitive exclusion.
  • Future ecological network models should integrate the effects of ecosystem engineers for more accurate predictions.