WANI Dictionary

Ecologically important species

A species is considered to be an “ecologically important species” when it plays an important role in nature that cannot be easily taken over by other species.

Note: This term yields more than 6,000 hits in Google Scholar search as of July 2022, whereas “ecologically unimportant species” results in only 12 hits. Given that each species occupies a unique ecological niche [2], it may be possible that researchers have created this phrase to emphasize the importance of their reserch while all species are “important”.

Definitions in the literature

• An ecologically important species performs an important function and few other species can take over its role [1].
• An ecologically important species also performs a significant function for the ecosystem, perhaps one that drives ecosystem dynamics [1].