80/20 Analysis

Biological Parallel

Keystone species like sea otters comprise less than 5% of kelp forest biomass but control 80%+ of ecosystem function by regulating sea urchin populations. Evolution concentrates leverage in specific nodes where small inputs generate disproportionate outputs. The 80/20 rule isn't arbitrary—it reflects power-law distributions inherent to networked systems, from food webs to metabolic pathways, where most variance flows through a few critical bottlenecks.