Aquatic ecology and Biodiversity

Unit 4- Community ecology

4.1.4. Ecological dominance

The ecological dominance is also known as the dominant species. It refers to the most of population in a climax community. The community has many species. Ecological dominance is the degree to which a species is more numerous than its competitors in an ecological community or makes up more of the biomass. Most ecological communities are defined by their dominant species.
• In tropical coastal waters the dominant corals
• In temperate bogs, the dominant vegetation is usually species of Sphagnum moss.
• On earth, a large amount of its land ecosystems are dominated by human beings, making human beings the ecologically dominant species over much of the planet.
• Tidal swamps in the tropics are usually dominated by species of mangrove (Rhizophoraceae)
• Some sea floor communities are dominated by brittle stars.
• Exposed rocky shorelines are dominated by sessile organisms such as barnacles and limpets.