ECOTONE AND EDGE EFFECT
• Ecotone is a fairly distinct transition zone
between different overlapping communities.
• In other words, it is a zone of integration
where two or more different communities
meet, merge and overlap.
• It is often described as a "tension zone" or
"tension belt", since the competition for
resources is very severe there.
• Estuaries, the junctional zone between forest
and grassland the bank of a stream that flows
through a meadow, the border between a
shrub community and a marsh. etc. are typical
ecotones.
• The tension in the ecotone may result mostly from
the struggle with the physical conditions and partly
from a direct competition between certain species
of each community.
• Ecotones may be narrow or wide areas. Their
environmental conditions are generally called edge
conditions.
• They may be intermediate between those of the
adjoining major communities.
• The organisms of the ectone are largely dependent
on the adjacent communi ties (So, changes in the
physical and biological conditions of the
neighbouring communities will affect the
inhabitants of the ecotone
• Ecotones are colonized mostly by the species that
are common in the neighbouring communities and
also by some others which are exclusively ecotonal.
• Ecotones are remarkable for their extra-ordinary species richness,
exceptionally great species diversity, and extremely high density of
population of most species in comparison with the neighbouring
communities.
• This is because they provide a wide range of favourable
environmental conditions for many species of the adjacent major
communities.
• When the ecotonal conditions become unfavourable, they return to
their parent communities.
• The residual species, still remaining in the ecotone, are well adapted
to the ecotonal environment and are characteristic of the ecotone.
This may be either due to their inability to cope with the conditions of
the major communities, or due to their better adaptation or better
tolerance under ecotonal conditions
• Ecotonal community is often called the "edge community." It consists of
two sets of populations, namely
• (i) populations from the adjacent major communities and
• (ii) ecotonal populations that are characteristic of the ecotone and mostly
or exclusively restricted to the ecotone.
• As a rule, species abundance and population density are much higher in
the ecotonal community than in the adjacent major communities.
• This unique general feature of ecotones is known as the principle of edges
The phenomenon in which ecotone is endowed with incredible species
diversity, immense species abundance, and exceptionally high population
density is called edge effect.
• Ecotone is also characterised by the presence of populations that are
absent in the neighbouring communities
• The species which occur extensively or most abundantly in the ecotone, or
spend most of their time in the ecotone, are called "edge species".
• Edges:
• Edges are the boundaries where two different ecosystems or habitats
meet. These zones are important because they influence species
distribution, environmental conditions, and ecological interactions.
Edges can be:
• Natural Edges: Found in nature, such as the boundary between a
forest and a grassland or the transition from a mountain to a valley.
• Artificial Edges: Created by human activities, like roads cutting
through forests, agricultural fields bordering a forest, or urban
development next to a wetland.
• Ecotones:
• An ecotone is a transitional area where two different ecosystems
gradually merge. These regions often have characteristics of both
ecosystems and may host species from both areas as well as unique
species adapted to the transitional conditions.
• Characteristics of Ecotones:
• High biodiversity due to the presence of species from both adjoining
ecosystems.
• Presence of species that are unique to the ecotone itself.
• Changes in environmental conditions, such as soil composition,
moisture levels, and temperature, creating varied microhabitats.
• examples of Ecotones:
• Mangrove forests (transition between marine and terrestrial ecosystems).
• Estuaries (where freshwater from rivers meets saltwater from the ocean).
• Grassland–forest boundaries (where open grasslands meet dense forests).
• Edge Effect:
• The edge effect occurs in ecotones and refers to the greater biodiversity
found at the boundaries between ecosystems. This happens because
species from both ecosystems coexist and interact in these areas, often
leading to increased competition, predation, and sometimes new
ecological adaptations.
