Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to You wouldn't by any chance have a list of those 100 essential species, would you?

It would take a while to make a specific list.
Lee — (archived)

But I'd say 70-80% of them would be unicellular species. On Earth most of the oxygen we breath comes from the oceans, algae to be specific. So here's a rough break down of what I'd carry.

30 species of bacteria

10 species of algae

10 species of plankton (diatoms, etc)

5 species of kelp

5 species of lichen

10 species of base food species (krell, etc)

10 species of filter feeders (sponges, corals, etc)

10 species of land plants

10 land animal species

The bacteria and lichens would go in first, followed by the algae. Plankton and filter feeders next. After that, the multicellular life would be placed. IMO the oceans and lakes need to be stocked first before land organisms.

It's just a rough draft, but a basic no frills ecosystem wouldn't require many species to begin working. Remember, in the beginning Earth only had one species.

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