Dominance (ecology)

{{Short description|Measure of species' ecological influence}}

{{Other uses|Dominance (disambiguation){{!}}Dominance}}

{{Redirect|Dominant species|other uses|Dominant Species (disambiguation){{!}}Dominant Species}}

{{More citations needed|date=June 2021}}

File:Rhizophora yngtree.jpg (mangroves) dominate tropical tidal swamps]]

Ecological dominance is the degree to which one or several species have a major influence controlling the other species in their ecological community (because of their large size, population, productivity, or related factors){{Cite web|url=https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=714|title = OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms - Ecological dominance Definition}} or make up more of the biomass. Both the composition and abundance of species within an ecosystem can be affected by the dominant species present.{{Cite journal |last1=Avolio |first1=Meghan L. |last2=Forrestel |first2=Elisabeth J. |last3=Chang |first3=Cynthia C. |last4=La Pierre |first4=Kimberly J. |last5=Burghardt |first5=Karin T. |last6=Smith |first6=Melinda D. |author-link6=Melinda D. Smith |date=13 March 2019 |title=Demystifying dominant species |journal=New Phytologist |language=en |volume=223 |issue=3 |pages=1106–1126 |doi=10.1111/nph.15789 |issn=0028-646X |doi-access=free|pmid=30868589 }}

In most of the world's ecosystems, biologists have repeatedly observed a rank-abundance curve in which ecosystems comprise a handful of incredibly abundant species, but more numerous, rarer species that are few in number.{{Cite journal |last=Whittaker |first=R. H. |date=1965-01-15 |title=Dominance and Diversity in Land Plant Communities |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.147.3655.250 |journal=Science |volume=147 |issue=3655 |pages=250–260 |doi=10.1126/science.147.3655.250 |pmid=17788203 |bibcode=1965Sci...147..250W |issn=0036-8075}}{{Cite journal |last=Alroy |first=John |date=2015-09-04 |title=The shape of terrestrial abundance distributions |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500082 |journal=Science Advances |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=e1500082 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.1500082 |pmid=26601249 |issn=2375-2548|pmc=4643760 |bibcode=2015SciA....1E0082A }}{{Cite book |last1=Darwin |first1=Charles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.82303 |title=On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life |last2=Murray |first2=John |date=1859 |publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street |location=London|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.82303 }}{{Cite journal |last=Gleason |first=H. A. |date=1 October 1929 |title=The Significance of Raunkiaer's Law of Frequency |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1931149 |journal=Ecology |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=406–408 |doi=10.2307/1931149 |jstor=1931149 |bibcode=1929Ecol...10..406G |issn=0012-9658}} Danish botanist Christen C. Raunkiær described this phenomenon as his "law of frequency" in 1918, in which he recognized that in communities with a single species accounting for most of the biomass, species diversity was often lower.{{Cite journal |last=Kenoyer |first=Leslie A. |date=1 July 1927 |title=A Study of Raunkaier's Law of Frequence |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1929336 |journal=Ecology |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=341–349 |doi=10.2307/1929336 |jstor=1929336 |bibcode=1927Ecol....8..341K |issn=0012-9658}}

Understandably, biologists expect to see more profound effects from those species greater in number.{{Cite journal |last=Gaston |first=Kevin J. |date=1 May 2011 |title=Common Ecology |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2011.61.5.4 |journal=BioScience |volume=61 |issue=5 |pages=354–362 |doi=10.1525/bio.2011.61.5.4 |issn=1525-3244}} First formalized as the mass ratio hypothesis in a 1998 paper by English ecologist J. Philip Grime, ecologically dominant species are predicted to have overwhelming effects on ecosystem function and ecological processes due to their relatively high biomass and ubiquity.{{Cite journal |last=Grime |first=J. P. |date=5 January 2002 |title=Benefits of plant diversity to ecosystems: immediate, filter and founder effects |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1046/j.1365-2745.1998.00306.x |journal=Journal of Ecology |language=en |volume=86 |issue=6 |pages=902–910 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.1998.00306.x |issn=0022-0477}}File:Andropogon scoparium and Andropogon gerardii (20480264444).jpgi dominate this tallgrass prairie in Delorme, Minnesota]]

Most ecological communities are defined by their dominant species.{{Cite journal |last=Braun |first=E. Lucy |date=1 April 1947 |title=Development of the Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1943265 |journal=Ecological Monographs |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=211–219 |doi=10.2307/1943265 |jstor=1943265 |bibcode=1947EcoM...17..211B |issn=0012-9615}}

• In many examples of wet woodland in western Europe, the dominant tree is alder (Alnus glutinosa).{{Cite journal |last=Prieditis |first=Normunds |date=1997-03-01 |title=Alnus glutinosa – dominated wetland forests of the Baltic Region: community structure, syntaxonomy and conservation |url=https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009759701364 |journal=Plant Ecology |language=en |volume=129 |issue=1 |pages=49–94 |doi=10.1023/A:1009759701364 |issn=1573-5052}}
• In tallgrass prairies of Northeastern Kansas, the dominant grass is (Andropogon gerardii).{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Melinda D. |author-link=Melinda D. Smith |last2=Knapp |first2=Alan K. |date=8 May 2003 |title=Dominant species maintain ecosystem function with non-random species loss |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00454.x |journal=Ecology Letters |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=509–517 |doi=10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00454.x |bibcode=2003EcolL...6..509S |issn=1461-023X}}{{Cite journal |last1=Silletti |first1=Andrea M |last2=Knapp |first2=Alan K |last3=Blair |first3=John M |date=2004-04-01 |title=Competition and coexistence in grassland codominants: responses to neighbour removal and resource availability |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b04-016 |journal=Canadian Journal of Botany |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=450–460 |doi=10.1139/b04-016 |issn=0008-4026}}{{Cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Cynthia C. |last2=Smith |first2=Melinda D. |author-link2=Melinda D. Smith |date=2011-10-21 |title=Invasion of an intact plant community: the role of population versus community level diversity |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2157-z |journal=Oecologia |volume=168 |issue=4 |pages=1091–1102 |doi=10.1007/s00442-011-2157-z |pmid=22015570 |issn=0029-8549}}{{Cite journal |last1=Hoover |first1=D. L. |last2=Knapp |first2=A. K. |last3=Smith |first3=M. D. |date=2014-05-23 |title=Contrasting sensitivities of two dominant C4 grasses to heat waves and drought |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11258-014-0345-8 |journal=Plant Ecology |volume=215 |issue=7 |pages=721–731 |doi=10.1007/s11258-014-0345-8 |bibcode=2014PlEco.215..721H |issn=1385-0237}}
• In temperate bogs, the dominant vegetation is usually species of Sphagnum moss.{{Cite journal |last1=Krachler |first1=Regina |last2=Krachler |first2=Rudolf F. |last3=Wallner |first3=Gabriele |last4=Steier |first4=Peter |last5=El Abiead |first5=Yasin |last6=Wiesinger |first6=Hubert |last7=Jirsa |first7=Franz |last8=Keppler |first8=Bernhard K. |date=2016-06-15 |title=Sphagnum-dominated bog systems are highly effective yet variable sources of bio-available iron to marine waters |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=556 |pages=53–62 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.012 |issn=0048-9697|doi-access=free |bibcode=2016ScTEn.556...53K }}
• Tidal swamps in the tropics are usually dominated by species of mangrove (Rhizophoraceae).{{Cite book |first=P |last=Brocklehurst |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/40791904 |title=Mangrove survey of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory (N.T.) : CCNT/NFI project 1994-95 |date=1996 |publisher=Dept. of Lands Planning and Environment |isbn=0-7245-2766-4 |oclc=40791904}}{{Cite journal |last1=Ismail |last2=Sulistiono |last3=Hariyadi |first3=S |last4=Madduppa |first4=H |date=2021-04-01 |title=Diversity, density, and Importance Value Index of mangroves in the Segara Anakan lagoon and its surrounding area, Cilacap Regency, Indonesia |journal=IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science |volume=744 |issue=1 |pages=012034 |doi=10.1088/1755-1315/744/1/012034 |issn=1755-1307|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021E&ES..744a2034I }}
• Some Arctic sea floor communities are dominated by brittle stars.{{Cite journal |last1=Piepenburg |first1=D. |last2=Schmid |first2=M. K. |date=1996-07-01 |title=Brittle star fauna (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) of the arctic northwestern Barents sea: composition, abundance, biomass and spatial distribution |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02390420 |journal=Polar Biology |language=en |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=383–392 |doi=10.1007/BF02390420 |bibcode=1996PoBio..16..383P |issn=1432-2056}}
• Exposed rocky shorelines are dominated by sessile organisms such as barnacles and limpets.{{Citation |last1=Worm |first1=B. |title=Competition, Coexistence and Diversity on Rocky Shores |date=2002 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-642-56166-5_6 |work=Competition and Coexistence |volume=161 |pages=133–163 |access-date=2023-04-27 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-56166-5_6 |isbn=978-3-642-62800-9 |last2=Karez |first2=R.}}
• The turtle ant (Cephalotes pusillus), is thought to dominant arboreal ant communities in the Brazilian savannah.{{Cite journal |last1=Camarota |first1=Flávio |last2=Vasconcelos |first2=Heraldo L. |last3=Marquis |first3=Robert J. |last4=Powell |first4=Scott |date=2020-10-01 |title=Revisiting ecological dominance in arboreal ants: how dominant usage of nesting resources shapes community assembly |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04748-z |journal=Oecologia |language=en |volume=194 |issue=1 |pages=151–163 |doi=10.1007/s00442-020-04748-z |pmid=32909091 |bibcode=2020Oecol.194..151C |issn=1432-1939}}

There are currently several different metrics for assessing species dominance in natural ecosystems, including the importance value index,{{Cite journal |last1=Curtis |first1=J. T. |last2=McIntosh |first2=R. P. |date=1 July 1951 |title=An Upland Forest Continuum in the Prairie-Forest Border Region of Wisconsin |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1931725 |journal=Ecology |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=476–496 |doi=10.2307/1931725 |jstor=1931725 |bibcode=1951Ecol...32..476C |issn=0012-9658}} competitive index,{{Cite journal |last=GRIME |first=J. P. |date=30 March 1973 |title=Competitive Exclusion in Herbaceous Vegetation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/242344a0 |journal=Nature |volume=242 |issue=5396 |pages=344–347 |doi=10.1038/242344a0 |bibcode=1973Natur.242..344G |issn=0028-0836}} community importance index,{{Cite journal |last1=Power |first1=Mary E. |last2=Tilman |first2=David |last3=Estes |first3=James A. |last4=Menge |first4=Bruce A. |last5=Bond |first5=William J. |last6=Mills |first6=L. Scott |last7=Daily |first7=Gretchen |last8=Castilla |first8=Juan Carlos |last9=Lubchenco |first9=Jane |last10=Paine |first10=Robert T. |date=1 September 1996 |title=Challenges in the Quest for Keystones |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1312990 |journal=BioScience |volume=46 |issue=8 |pages=609–620 |doi=10.2307/1312990 |jstor=1312990 |issn=0006-3568}} and dominance index.