Diatoms

Diatoms are microscopic algae encased in glass houses - intricate silica shells (frustules) with species-specific patterns. There are over 100,000 species, and together they produce approximately 20% of Earth's oxygen - more than all the world's rainforests combined. Their accumulated shells form diatomaceous earth, used in filtration, abrasives, and insecticides.

Diatoms demonstrate ecosystem contribution at invisible scale. No single diatom matters; collectively they're essential for planetary function. The business parallel is distributed value creation - systems where no individual contributor is significant but the aggregate is indispensable. Wikipedia editors, open-source contributors, and network participants often operate this way.