Fig. 2
From: Ecosystem engineering and biodiversity in coastal sediments: posing hypotheses
Schematic representation of the general mechanism by which an ecosystem engineer may affect biodiversity. The abiotic environment affects the ability of organisms to establish (arrows 1, 4). Established ecosystem engineers will modify the abiotic environment (arrow 2), with the extent of the habitat modification depending on the traits of that organism in combination with the abiotic conditions (level of environmental stress) present (arrow 3). This habitat modification will affect the ability of both the ecosystem engineer itself (arrow 1) as well as other species (arrow 4) to live in such engineered area. The latter may cause facilitation for some species and inhibition for others. The integral of the impact on all other organisms (arrow 5) describes the overall biodiversity effect of an ecosystem engineer