# What single species' extinction would do the most damage to Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243 "2007-06-08T12:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/21 "2007-06-09T06:47:05Z")
Not a species, but a group of animals - the spiders. Imagine mosquitoes and disease spreading flies with no control. Hello, Malaria! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/22 "2007-06-09T07:02:22Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] Whatever the answer is, it’s very small. The biggest it could be would be an insect, I believe. Say, what would happen to all the dead skin animals shed if there were no dust mites? Would be drown in out own waste? [/QUOTE] There’s a type of beetle that eats cattle dung; without it, it just accumulates and accumulates ( that happened once to an island that lacked the beetle, until it was imported ). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/23 "2007-06-09T08:06:52Z")
Plankton, that would then wipe out most sea creatures and plenty of land animals. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/24 "2007-06-09T09:52:11Z")
**Sitnam’s** suggestion was what was going through my mind when I read the OP. Yes – plankton, krill, the start of the marine food chain that affects so many other creatures further up the line, including ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/25 "2007-06-09T13:17:17Z")
The dodo bird. We must protect this species at all costs. Once it’s gone, we’re all doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/26 "2007-06-09T13:24:47Z")
My first thought was the ocean algae that generates so much of the oxygen we enjoy on a daily basis. I don’t know if there’s a single key species, though. We could still use a clarification of the OP (or at least, I could). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/27 "2007-06-09T13:36:25Z")
A statement was made in the new [TED video](http://imdb.com/title/tt1002695/') – can’t remember who by – saying, “If all insects disappeared tomorrow, homo sapiens would be extinct in 50 years, but if homo sapiens disappeared, life would flourish.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/28 "2007-06-09T20:10:52Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Plankton, that would then wipe out most sea creatures and plenty of land animals. [/QUOTE] True, but there are many species of plankton IIRC. For a **single** species to do much damage to humans by vanishing, I bet it would have to human specific, like e coli as mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/29 "2007-06-10T18:06:45Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] There’s a type of beetle that eats cattle dung; without it, it just accumulates and accumulates ( that happened once to an island that lacked the beetle, until it was imported ). [/QUOTE] And just what is this globally distributed unique cow-poo eating beetle? I’ve seen all sorts of beasts eating cow dung, up to and including spaniels. Cow flops are the pretty much the hamburgers of the detritivore world - not necessarily that healthy or filling, but always popular with the crowds. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/30 "2007-06-10T18:25:49Z")
Yeah. Just what do you call a beetle that eats dung? ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/31 "2007-06-10T18:30:58Z")
My vote goes with Krill or Kelp - both are pretty crucial to the health of the oceans. We just don’t know how much impact it would have - but it would be worldwide, not just on one or two continents. (We would probably be better off, ecologically, in North America if the earthworm didn’t get brought here 400 years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/32 "2007-06-10T19:36:32Z")
[QUOTE=Fetchund] My vote goes with Krill or Kelp - both are pretty crucial to the health of the oceans. We just don’t know how much impact it would have - but it would be worldwide, not just on one or two continents. (We would probably be better off, ecologically, in North America if the earthworm didn’t get brought here 400 years ago.) [/QUOTE] Why? ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/33 "2007-06-10T19:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] Why? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=wikipedia] Only two genera of Lumbricid earthworms are indigenous to North America whereas introduced genera have invaded areas where earthworms did not formerly exist, especially in the north. Here forest development relies on a large amount of undecayed leaf matter. Where worms decompose that leaf layer, the ecology may shift making the habitat unsurvivable for certain species of trees, ferns and wildflowers. [/QUOTE] I did not know that. I can now go to bed a little less ignorant than I woke up. Thank you **Fetchund** , that’s another CecilPoint to your score. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/34 "2007-06-11T00:34:05Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] Yeah. Just what do you call a beetle that eats dung? [/QUOTE] Ringo? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/35 "2007-06-11T16:01:56Z")
> [@](#): > > What single species’ extinction would do the most damage to Earth? Humans, of course. Think of all the starving rats, mice, cockroaches, yorkshire terriers, shetland ponies and chickens we’d leave behind! Not to mention all the food crops that would go extinct. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/36 "2007-06-11T18:01:03Z")
My vote goes to the Bees (Anthophila) in general. But it would have to be all 20,000 species. My second vote is, as stated by others above, krill or plankton. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/37 "2007-06-11T18:33:52Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] The dodo bird. We must protect this species at all costs. Once it’s gone, we’re all doomed. [/QUOTE] Whatever. :rolleyes: There are redundancies built into our ecology, my dear **JThunder**. If anything were to happen to the dodo, the passenger pigeon could easily step into its place. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/38 "2007-06-11T19:30:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] If we’re talking non-animals, fucking with the Amazon jungle is also a Very Bad Thing. [/QUOTE] Too late. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/39 "2007-06-11T20:26:58Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy] IANA expert, but I suggest that one speicies of insect won’t matter a bit. There are enough similar species that any newly vacated ecological niche will be small and rapidly filled. For the OP, do you mean “…maximum chaos for humanity…” or what your title said, “…damage to Earth”? Those are two very different things. In terms of human disruption, making all the cattle disappear would be good. No more beef. No more dairy. No more ice cream. Lots of ranches & infrastructure with nothing to do. Lots of farm acreage planted with cattle feed unsuitable for human consumption. Naturally this’d matter more to places like the US or Argentina vs. India or Madagascar. And that’d leave a few cattle-like critters around, oxen, buffaloe, etc., so we’d have the raw stock to begin a breeding program that’d have beef back on the shelf in a couple thousand years. If you expand “species” to “category of plant/animal” (a loose term I just made up), Ithink you could probably do a lot of damage to the overall biosphere by killing off the oceanic plants. That’d trash the oxygen/carbon cycle a bunch & maybe trigger an event like when the cyanobacteria went wild [Great Oxidation Event - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_Catastrophe). [/QUOTE] Yep, I was thinking cows. Man I love me some beef. Chickens also crossed my mind, but there are enough chicken and egg substitutes that I don’t think it would be all that big a deal. Extermination of the cows would IMO wreak the most havoc with humanity. I think that if plankton were wiped out, that would wreak the most havoc on the Earth. Plankton is at the bottom of the oceanic food chain, and most of the ocean’s fauna depend on it in some form, either 1st, 2nd, 3rd degree, etc. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243/40 "2007-06-11T20:43:04Z")
If I were the malignant entity, I wouldn’t take away a species, I’d speed up the proliferation of the already proliferating coliform taxifolia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-single-species-extinction-would-do-the-most-damage-to-earth/407243.md?page=3)