Ecotone

An ecotone is a transitional vegetation area between two biological communities,^[1] where two communities meet and integrate.^[2] examples include transition between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and water etc. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems).^[3] 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.

^ Senft, Amanda (2009). Species Diversity Patterns at Ecotones (PDF). University of North Carolina. Archived from the original (Master's thesis) on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
^ Pearl, Solomon Eldra; Berg, Linda R.; Martin, Diana W. (2011). Biology. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.^{[page needed]}
^ Smith, Robert Leo (1974). Ecology and Field Biology (2nd ed.). Harper & Row. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-06-500976-7.

[1] Senft, Amanda (2009). Species Diversity Patterns at Ecotones (PDF). University of North Carolina. Archived from the original (Master's thesis) on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-01-07.

[2] Pearl, Solomon Eldra; Berg, Linda R.; Martin, Diana W. (2011). Biology. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.^{[page needed]}

[smith-3] Smith, Robert Leo (1974). Ecology and Field Biology (2nd ed.). Harper & Row. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-06-500976-7.

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