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SOS: Saving keystone species (Rebroadcast)

WAMU 88.5 | By Amanda Williams
Published April 22, 2024 at 2:36 PM EDT
A bison walks past people who just watched the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
A bison walks past people who just watched the eruption of Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

What do bison, beaver, wolves and sea otters all have in common?

They’re keystone species. That means they have an outsized impact on their ecosystem.It took humans driving some of these to near extinction to realize just how important they are.

Now animals like the American Bison and North American Beaver are some of the Endangered Species Act’s most notable success stories. 

We’re talking about endangered species all this week as part of our series marking the 50thanniversary of the landmark legislation protecting some of our most important fauna and flora. How do we save these keystone species?

Professor Laura Dee mentioned the iNaturalist App for people who want to help track species around the world. You can find it at www.inaturalist.org.

Copyright 2024 WAMU 88.5
Amanda Williams