What does it mean to be a dominant species?

In the ecological community, the species that is the largest and creates most biomass is considered to be a dominant species. Ecological dominance can also be defined as a species that has the greatest influence on other species in the same environment. Dominant species include plants and animals that affect the environmental conditions of the environment according to their size, abundance or behavior and determine which other animals or plants can survive in this environment. There may be one or more dominant species in some environments.

Good examples of ecological domination in the world of plants are the forest community of rocky mountains. After the forest fire, plants and trees in different stages progress, while small plants such as grass and ferns are first growing. Finally, small trees like Aspen and Birch rooted and germinated upwards and cut off the sunlight from these smaller ground plants on the forest bottom. After a few years of needles as pine and spruces, the spruce will grow over smaller trees. In eachThe growth phase of one type of plant will replace the previous species and exists as a dominant species in a forest ecosystem for some time.

In the animal kingdom, the highest predator can become a dominant species. A good example is the ecosystem of Yellowstone Lake in Wyoming, where in 1994 he was illegally introduced by the trout of the predatory lake. Before the introduction of piscivořický or fish meals, the lake trout, the Yellowstone Cutthroat trout was a dominant species in the lake ecosystem. In 2011, if not checked, the lake trout could reduce the population of Yellowstone Cutthroat trout by up to 90% over the next 20 years and could eliminate them completely. The lake trout would then be considered a dominant species in this ecological community.

The best predator may not always be a dominant species. Sometimes species reaches dominance via clear numbers and in this case the total biomass is a dominant secondm. A large amount of a single kind can have a huge impact on the ecosystem. One simple example would be to attack the grasshopper in the wheat field. With rich food supply and without predators, the grasshopper population can increase its number for a very short time and become a dominant species in this ecosystem.