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n ecological theory, a keystone species controls the environment and thereby determines the other species that can survive in its presence. Classic examples include starfish that scour rock surfaces, shaping the sessile community (Paine and Levin 1981), and beaver that dam streams, changing a terrestrial into an aquatic ecosystem Casual observation would seem to place humans (which we will refer to as Homo economus) into this same domineering role.
O’Neill et al. (2000) studied this question.