Ecological extinction

Ecological extinction is defined as “the reduction of a species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in the community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species.”

Ecological extinction stands out because it is the interaction ecology of a species that is important for conservation work. They state that “unless the species interacts significantly with other species in the community (e.g. it is an important predator, competitor, symbiont, mutualist, or prey) its loss may result in little to no adjustment to the abundance and population structure of other species.”