Ecotone

• An Ecotone is a transitional area of vegetation between two different plant communities, such as forest and grassland.
  • It has some of the characteristics of each bordering biological community and often contains species not found in the overlapping communities

Features

• • An ecotone can have a sharp vegetation transition, with a distinct line between two communities
    • For example, a change in colours of grasses or plant life can indicate an ecotone
  • A change in physiognomy (physical appearance of a plant species) can be a key indicator
    • Example, Water bodies, such as estuaries, can have a region of transition, and the boundary is characterized by the differences in heights of the plant species present in the areas because this distinguishes the two areas’ accessibility to light
  • A change of species can signal an ecotone.
    • There will be specific organisms on one side of an ecotone or the other.
  • The abundance of introduced species in an ecotone can reveal the type of biome or efficiency of the two communities sharing space.
    • Because an ecotone is the zone in which two communities integrate, many different forms of life have to live together and compete for space.
    • Therefore, an ecotone can create a diverse ecosystem
  • An ecotone may exist along a broad belt or in a small pocket, such as a forest clearing, where two local communities blend together
    • The influence of the two bordering communities on each other is known as the edge effect

Examples of Ecotone

• • The Mangrove Forests represent an ecotone between Marine and Terrestrial ecosystem
  • The Grasslands represent an ecotone between desert and forest
  • The Estuaries represent an ecotone between saltwater and freshwater\

Significance of ecotones

• • Ecotones are the biological analogues of buffer states. They act as buffer regions when catastrophic conditions strike and protect the adjacent ecosystem from any prospective dangers.
    • For instance, if a tsunami hits a coast, it’s usually the mangrove vegetation that acts as the shock absorbers. It prevents a massive amount of danger from infiltrating the terrestrial region
  • Ecotones act as biodiversity hotspots between two ecosystems. As such, this area is of high environmental and scientific importance.
    • Because this region borders two well-defined ecosystems, it promotes gene flow from one community to another, thereby giving rise to interesting variations. As such, ecotones hold evolutionary significance for researchers