Ecotone

An ecotone is the highly dynamic boundary between two disparate ecosystems: vegetation types and biomes. Ecotones can be very narrow and sharply defined, such as a terrestrial-aquatic boundary, or they can represent a broad transition between differing biomes, such as a gradual conversion between grassland and forest. Often, the flora and fauna found on either side of an ecotone will not be similar to one another, and species favoring one side of the ecotone will not fare as well on the other. Because of the variability in vegetation cover [Page 535]and abiotic factors characterized by ecotones, biodiversity across an ecotone tends to be higher than in relatively homogeneous habitats on either side of the ecotone. Ecotones can be formed by natural processes, such as floods, ...