Ecotone

For other uses, see Ecotone (disambiguation).

Reed beds are a common form of lakeside ecotone. The beds tend to accumulate organic matter which is then colonised by trees, forcing the reeds further into the lake.

Fig.1 & 2 show simple ecotones with equal and homogeneous surfaces in both cases. 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. 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.7 shows a common interpenetration of mediums (such as that found at the edge of a forest). Fig.8 shows an ecotone that could have been formed by an animal modifying its environment.

An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent but different plant communities, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland). 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.

The word 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.

Formation

Changes in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary, as in the example of the interface between areas of forest and cleared land (Krummholz). 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. Mountain ranges often create such ecotones, due to the wide variety of climatic conditions experienced on their slopes. They may also provide a boundary between species due to the obstructive nature of their terrain; Mont Ventoux in France is a good example, marking the boundary between the flora and fauna of northern and southern France. Most wetlands are ecotones.

Plants in competition extend themselves on one side of the ecotone as far as their ability to maintain themselves allows. Beyond this competitors of the adjacent community take over. As a result the ecotone represents a shift in dominance. Ecotones are particularly significant for mobile animals, as they can exploit more than one set of habitats within a short distance. 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(Smith). This can produce an edge effect along the boundary line, with the area displaying a greater than usual diversity of species.

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.

Ecotones and ecoclines

An ecotone is often associated with a ecocline (a "physical transition zone" between two systems). 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 systems, ecosystems, agrosystèmes).

In contrast:

• an ecocline is a variation of the physicochemical environment dependent of one or two physico-chemical factors of life, and thus presence/absence of certain species. An ecoline can be a thermocline, chemocline (chemical gradiant), halocline (salinity gradient) or pycnocline (variations in density of water induced by temperature or salinity).
• an ecotone describes a variation often not strictly dependent a major physical factor separating an ecosystem from another, with resulting habitat variability. An ecotone is often unobtrusive and harder to measure.