The ecotone and ecocline concepts are sometimes confused: an ecocline can signal an ecotone chemically (ex: pH or salinity gradient), or microclimatically ( hydrothermal gradient) between two ecosystems. Ecotones and ecoclinesĪn ecotone is often associated with an ecocline: a "physical transition zone" between two systems. The phenomenon of increased variety of plants as well as animals at the community junction is called the edge effect and is essentially due to a locally broader range of suitable environmental conditions or ecological niches. The ecotone contains not only species common to the communities on both sides it may also include a number of highly adaptable species that tend to colonize such transitional areas. Ecotones are particularly significant for mobile animals, as they can exploit more than one set of habitats within a short distance. As a result the ecotone represents a shift in dominance. Beyond this competitors of the adjacent community take over. Plants in competition extend themselves on one side of the ecotone as far as their ability to maintain themselves allows. Mont Ventoux in France is a good example, marking the boundary between the flora and fauna of northern and southern France. They may also provide a boundary between species due to the obstructive nature of their terrain. Mountain ranges often create such ecotones, due to the wide variety of climatic conditions experienced on their slopes. Elsewhere, a more gradually blended interface area will be found, where species from each community will be found together as well as unique local species. The word ecotone was coined from a combination of eco(logy) plus -tone, from the Greek tonos or tension – in other words, a place where ecologies are in tension.Ĭhanges in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary, as in the example of the interface between areas of forest and cleared land). An ecotone may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the two communities across a broad area, or it may manifest itself as a sharp boundary line. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems). Fig.8 shows an ecotone that could have been formed by an animal modifying its environment.Īn ecotone is a transition area between two biomes or different patches of the landscape. Fig.7 shows a common interpenetration of media (such as that found at the edge of a forest). 5 & 6 show the edges of forests or banks treated in such a way as to lengthen the ecotone considerably without excessively modifying the environment. Fig.3 shows an inclusion of each medium in the other, creating multiple ecotones, which are shown in a more complex form in figure 4. Fig.1 & 2 show simple ecotones with equal and homogeneous surfaces in both cases.
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