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Ecotone
 
 
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An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities (ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s). It 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.

Changes in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary
Boundary

Boundary may refer to:in mathematics,**A Boundary is the closure minus the interior of a subset of a topological space**The conditions of a boundary value problem in Mathematics...
, as in the example of the interface between areas of forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
 and cleared land
Land clearing in Australia

Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands and native grasslands and the draining of natural wetlands for replacement with Agriculture_in_Australia, urban and other land uses....
 (Krummholz
Krummholz

File:Pinus albicaulis 7872.JPGKrummholz or Krumholtz formation is a feature of subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, where continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds cause vegetation to become stunted and deformed....
). 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.






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An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities (ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s). It 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.

Changes in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary
Boundary

Boundary may refer to:in mathematics,**A Boundary is the closure minus the interior of a subset of a topological space**The conditions of a boundary value problem in Mathematics...
, as in the example of the interface between areas of forest
Forest

File:Stara planina suma.jpgA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on various criteria....
 and cleared land
Land clearing in Australia

Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands and native grasslands and the draining of natural wetlands for replacement with Agriculture_in_Australia, urban and other land uses....
 (Krummholz
Krummholz

File:Pinus albicaulis 7872.JPGKrummholz or Krumholtz formation is a feature of subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, where continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds cause vegetation to become stunted and deformed....
). 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 range
Mountain range

A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by mountain pass or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or Fold mountains...
s often create such ecotones, due to the wide variety of climatic conditions experienced on their slope
Slope

Slope is used to describe the steepness, incline, gradient, or grade of a line . A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline. The slope is defined as the ratio of the "rise" divided by the "run" between two points on a line, or in other words, the ratio of the altitude change to the horizontal distance between any two point...
s. They may also provide a boundary between species due to the obstructive nature of their terrain
Terrain

Terrain, or relief, is the third or vertical dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used....
; Mont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north-side, the mountain borders the Dr?me d?partement in France....
 in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 is a good example, marking the boundary between the flora
Flora

In botany, flora has two meanings. The first meaning, flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life....
 and fauna
Fauna

File:Fauna.pngFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoology and paleontology use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g....
 of northern and southern France
Southern France

Southern France , colloquially known as le Midi, is a loosely defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Gironde, Spain, the Mediterranean Sea, Italy, and Switzerland south of the Jura Mountains....
. Most wetland
Wetland

File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
s are ecotones.

Ecotones are particularly significant for mobile animals, as they can exploit more than one set of habitat
Habitat

The term habitat has a number of meanings:* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows** Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play...
s within a short distance. This can produce an edge effect
Edge effect

An edge effect in biology is the effect of the juxtaposition of contrasting natural environment on an ecosystem. This term is commonly used in conjunction with the boundary between natural habitat , especially forests, and disturbed or developed land....
 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 niche
Ecological niche

In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin will be in another ecological niche to one that travels in a different school.....
s.

The word was coined from a combination of eco(logy) plus -tone, from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 tonos or tension – in other words, a place where ecologies are in tension.