A 2007 paper introduced the concept of “keystone molecules”, rarely-seen chemicals that can profoundly impact their environment.
Now a study in Science Advances appears to provide evidence of their existence, examining slugs in a California mudflat.
Researchers identified five chemicals never before seen in nature, and found when introduced to the habitat, they had wide-ranging impacts.
One prompted invertebrate species to vacate the area entirely, while another encouraged a normally vegetative snail to start reproducing.
This is believed to be the first experimental evidence the concept is real, though the question remains how large an effect a keystone molecule must have to qualify.
The work reveals how little-understood the everyday world of chemistry is, and how influential a chemical web can be in ecosystems.
