Cultural keystone species

A cultural keystone species is a species of exceptional significance to a particular culture or people, identifiable by its prevalence in that group's language, ceremonies, traditions, diet, medicines, material items, and histories, and it plays a defining role in a community's social systems and identity. The concept was first proposed by Gary Nabhan and John Carr in 1994 and later developed by Sergio Cristancho and Joanne Vining in 2000 and by Ann Garibaldi and Nancy Turner in 2004, and it is described as a metaphorical parallel to the ecological keystone species concept, useful for biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/