Alex Wild“What is the function of Species X?” Is a question I hear often from non-biologists.
But it’s hard to answer. Species don’t exist to serve a function. They exist because they can. Everything is just trying to find a way to be.
sugarsh0t@alexwild in all my courses dealing with ecology, I never really heard “function” but rather “role”, which I like (and feels more malleable—the same role can be fulfilled by different species depending on environment, and a particular species’ role may differ depending on how the question is framed).