Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

This story was interesting.  The message I got was about how the turtle was the center of the ecosystem.  When the turtle was taken out of its ecosystem,  it does not survive.  The turtle in the story makes the perfect example of a keystone.  The junkyard bit was odd with the comparison of an ecosystem.  I have been in many junkyards and can relate to the feeling that there are many different "species" living in one and they can be their own wilderness.  I didn't understand how the two really related together though.