ecotone

American  

[ek-uh-tohn, ee-kuh-] / ˈɛk əˌtoʊn, ˈi kə- /

noun

Ecology.

1. the transition zone between two different plant communities, as that between forest and prairie.

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ecotone British  

/ ˈɛkə-, ˈiːkəˌtəʊn /

noun

1. the zone between two major ecological communities

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ecotone Scientific  

/ ē′kə-tōn′ /

1. A transitional zone between two ecological communities, as between a forest and grassland or a river and its estuary. An ecotone has its own characteristics in addition to sharing certain characteristics of the two communities.

2. See also edge effect

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Other Word Forms

• ecotonal adjective

Etymology

Origin of ecotone

1900–05; eco- + tone < Greek tónos tension

Example Sentences

The trail seems to transverse through an ecotone, a transitional zone between plant communities, switching between high desert and pine forest ecosystems.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025

“Ari, do you know what an ecotone is?”

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

“It’s the terrain where two different ecosystems meet. In an ecotone, the landscape will contain elements of the two different ecosystems. It’s like a natural borderlands.”

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Specimens of T. b. aureus showing the greatest amount of geographic variation cranially are from the ecotone between the Piñon-juniper and Douglas Fir zones at the edge of the range of the subspecies.

From Geographic Variation in the Pocket Gopher, Thomys bottae, in Colorado by Youngman, Phillip M.

The ranges of T. ornata and T. carolina overlap in the broad belt of prairie-forest ecotone in the central United States.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.