All wild populations of living things have many complex intertwining links with other living things around them. Herbivorous animals such as the buffalos and cattle have populations of birds like black drongos and the cattle egrets that feed off the many insects that grow on the back of the cattle which helps to keep them disease-free. If we destroy the nesting habitats of these birds, it will result a decrease in the cattle population because of the spread of insect-borne diseases.

The Domino effect is not just a theory, it has been tested by a group of experts in the Team of zoologist Todd Palmer of the University of Florida in Gainesville, USA. The team looked at the impact of removing giraffe grazers on Africa's acacia trees and ants that live alongside them. "With the human induced decline of big herbivores in Africa, it shows that the generally positive relationship between ants and plants essentially becomes antagonistic when big herbivores are removed" said Palmer. Also, in a place called Galapagos, which inspired Charles Darwin to formulate the theory of evolution, marine biologist Judith Denkinger said that "Everything is intertwined. You can't say this is land, this is sea, they are both one. The coral reefs create a habitat; they are like a forest, like the Amazon. They are home to scores of species. If the corals die we lose thousands of species that are associated to the coral."

In Antarctica, the Adelie penguin's numbers have also diminished because of rising temperatures and loss of sea ice. The delicate domino effect is played out in this way: Melting sea ice reduces the amount of algae... If the algae doesn't thrive neither does the krill shrimp, which feeds on the algae, and neither does the Adelie penguins since the krill shrimp is their primary food source. Whales, caribou, trout, coral reefs, monarch butterflies, the artic fox and songbirds are just some of the species in danger from the effects of greenhouse gases. And if our wildlife is threatened by global warming, then it goes to reason that so are we. Marine Biologist Judith Denkinger added that the harm that pollution and climate change are causing marine life could trigger a domino effect and hurt on-shore species as well.

The recent oil spill has also lead to the Domino effect as well. Smaller marine creatures live at deeper levels of the Gulf and, as a result, grow much slower than larger marine life in shallower waters. The oil haze has the potential to create genetic mutations in the small fish and crustaceans that migrate in huge numbers to shallower water at certain times of the year. This migration is the prime feeding time for the larger fish and mammals that feed off of the smaller prey. If the smaller prey is genetically mutated and contains harmful chemicals, then the larger marine life, such as whales, dolphins, tuna and other popular sea creatures will be affected too. And so the domino effect starts to unfold.

A book by Jeanne M. Nagle called Endangered Wildlife: Habitats in Peril lists a real life example of the Domino Effect that took place in Yellowstone National Park. The wolf population in the park was killed because they were a threat to the Elk. Since there were no predators now, the population of Elk grew in large numbers and in turn, they started feeding on more and more trees and fruit shrubs. The habitats that lived on those trees and shrubs suffered. The birds were homeless and had less fruits to eat. One by one, the species became endangered until the wolves were brought back to restore the ecosystem. Another example is the extinction of vultures in India. It all started with high chemical content in plants passed on to cattle, causing vultures deaths because of eating contaminated cattle. It has in turn led to dead cattle scavenged by dogs, bacteria and virus spreading among dogs leading to rabies, and leopards coming to urban areas to eat the dogs and attacking human.