ecotone

noun

eco·​tone ˈē-kə-ˌtōn 

ˈe-kə-

: a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities

ecotonal

ˈē-kə-ˌtō-nᵊl 

ˈe-kə-

adjective

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Every modification of climate, every disturbance of the soil, every interference with the existing vegetation of an area, favours some species at the expense of others. As Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker observed in Flora Indica (1855), all ecological communities are subject to some kind of disturbance, ranging from the simple, yet significant, loss of a tree to a catastrophic wildfire. Each disturbance creates an opportunity for a new species to colonize or flourish within the ecosystem in a process known as "ecological succession." Scientists refer to the area of overlapping landscapes where the "foreign" species encounter each other and blend together as ecotones, an apparent allusion to the tension created when competing species come together (in Greek tonos means "tension").

Examples of ecotone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Think of ecotones not only horizontally but vertically: the ecotone of cloud, the ecotone of rain. —Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022

And it’s an ecotone: a place where two biomes meet and mix. —Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 8 Nov. 2022

But the grill’s an important part of Landrace, the crucible for creating a Texas foodscape. Time for a new word: ecotone. —Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 8 July 2021

The ecotone, that Venn diagram between the two worlds, is where Landrace gets interesting. —Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 8 July 2021

The cave sits in a unique spot, an ecotone where grassland and coastal tropical forest meet. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 11 May 2018

Word History

Etymology

ec- + Greek tonos tension — more at tone entry 1

First Known Use

1904, in the meaning defined above

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