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    "headline": "Ecology's Smallest Ingredients May Carry the Largest Leverage",
    "slug": "ecology-s-smallest-ingredients-may-carry-the-largest-leverage",
    "dek": "A new framework defines how rare molecules can reorganize whole biological communities far beyond their abundance.",
    "summary": "A new framework defines how rare molecules can reorganize whole biological communities far beyond their abundance.",
    "body_text": "A Trends in Ecology & Evolution article proposes four tests for a keystone molecule: it must be rare, exert a large effect, influence more than one target and resist easy substitution. The framework draws on sea-slug alderenes that reorganize mudflat communities across several animal phyla and on serotonin and ectoine that reshape a stressed plant's root microbiome. It is a research agenda built from recent examples, not proof that every ecosystem has one master chemical.",
    "why_it_matters": "A new framework defines how rare molecules can reorganize whole biological communities far beyond their abundance.",
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      "It is a research agenda built from recent examples, not proof that every ecosystem has one master chemical."
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      "ecology",
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      "title": "Leibniz Institute via Phys.org: Keystone molecules in ecology",
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      "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-07-molecules-emerge-chemical-keystones-life.html",
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    "title": "Ecology's Smallest Ingredients May Carry the Largest Leverage",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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