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Ecotone
Published in Yeqiao Wang, Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biodiversity, 2020
Finn C. Pillsbury, Debra P. C. Peters
Ecotones modulate flows of material, energy, and organisms across heterogeneous landscapes, which has ramifications for a host of ecological processes such as dispersal, predation, and reproduction.[10,12,17] As a result, ecotones can exhibit behaviors, or emergent properties, that are not simply a combination or average of the ecological states between which they are situated.[11,18] One common emergent property is an increase in population density of certain species of plants and animals, termed “edge species” because of their association with ecotones between ecological states.[12] Such species might require multiple complementary habitats, and traveling along ecotones offers an efficient means of acquiring resources.[19] Other species might exhibit a preference for ecotones if their forage or prey species are associated with ecotones, a phenomenon known as “resource mapping.”[12] Increased abundance of edge species in ecotones may thus have a cascading effect on other ecological properties, making ecotones distinct in numerous ways from adjacent ecological states (Figure 24.3).
Human Activities and Ecological Processes in Bottomland Hardwood Ecosystems: The Report of the Ecosystem Workgroup
Published in James G. Gosselink, Lyndon C. Lee, Thomas A. Muir, Ecological Processes and Cumulative Impacts, 2020
James G. Gosselink, Mark M. Brinson, Lyndon C. Lee, Gregor T. Auble, J. Day, J. Dowhan, L. Harris, P. Hatcher, B. Keeler, C. Kiker, W. Kruczynski, R. Lea, W. Mitsch, L. Pearlstine, J. Pomponio, J. Safley, D. Sanders, M. Scott, L. Tebo
In conjunction with the topographic mosaic, ecotones (gradients between habitats) will proliferate. Ecotones are usually characterized by increased plant and animal diversity compared to either adjacent habitat. This may favor eurytopic animal species over stenotopic species. Other possible consequences are the genetic isolation of populations and the provision of refugia in swales for aquatic species between large floods, and on ridges and hummocks for small terrestrial animals during moderate floods. Extirpation of local populations (e.g., aquatic species under dry conditions and terrestrial species during wet conditions) will increase to the extent that the total suitable habitat is broken into isolated patches. Finally, a mosaic of habitats may provide a richer, more continuous food source for large, mobile fauna than that provided by a single habitat.
Management Goals and Functional Boundaries of Riparian Forested Wetlands
Published in George Mulamoottil, Barry G. Warner, Edward A. McBean, Wetlands, 2017
From an ecological perspective ‘stream bank’ areas are conceptually contained under the landscape concept of riparian zones: the “three-dimensional zones of direct interaction between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems” (Gregory et al., 1991). When the term “interaction” is based on a hydrological perspective, the proximity to streams with their low topographic position in the landscape suggests that riparian zones are usually wetlands. Also arising from their geographical context, riparian zones are ecotones. An ecotone generally is defined as a “zone of transition between adjacent ecological systems, having a set of characteristics uniquely defined by space and time scales and by the strength of the interactions between adjacent ecological systems” (Holland, 1988 as cited by Gosz, 1991). In this case the label ecotone is not intended to suggest that riparian areas have no unique characteristics. Their unique ecological characteristics as ecotones will be explored further below.
Effective use of microbes in waste soil stabilisation considering natural temperature variations
Published in Geomechanics and Geoengineering, 2022
B. A. Mir, K. M. N. Saquib Wani
Wetlands are shallow areas that are flooded at regular intervals or inundated long enough to sustain vegetation or other forms of aquatic life along with supporting many different life forms like migratory birds, animals, herbs etc. A wetland is referred to as an ecotone which means part of it is land and other part is water. Changing climate, geology, and other environmental aspects have created a variety of wetlands globally with diverse hydrology’s that affect the development of plants and soil, their use by wildlife, their functions and values (Tiner 2009). Many researchers in the past have tried to put forth case studies and observations for proper relocation of dredged sediments considering mangrove and wetland restoration (Redmond 2000, Ohimain 2004). Dredged materials can be utilised for the construction of artificial reefs and restoration, foreshore wetland creation, water body’s floor re-contouring, filling dead-end canals, creation of migratory birds/wildlife islands and landfill reclamation (Yozzo et al. 2004).
Effect of enhanced salinity on the chlorophyll-a concentration and partial pressure of CO2 of a sewage-fed freshwater aquaculture pond: a microcosm experiment
Published in Chemistry and Ecology, 2021
Sourav Bhattacharyya, Abhra Chanda, Sugata Hazra, Saroj B. Choudhury
Presentlye, aquaculture fishing has emerged as an essential alternative to capture fisheries to meet the ever-increasing food demand of the rising population. However, this land-use class has been also found to be a potent source of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) towards the atmosphere [7]. Several approaches to understanding pCO2 dynamics of such aquaculture ponds (both freshwater and saline water) have been conducted; however, very few endeavours are reported, which tried to find avenues to minimise the GHG fluxes from such ponds [8]. Freshwater aquaculture and saline water aquaculture practices are prevalent presently; however, the role of salinity in regulating the primary productivity and pCO2(water) of these ponds is still not properly understood. Previous studies reported that under hyper-saline conditions, the growth of phytoplankton was arrested and photosynthetic activity decreased, whereas moderate increase in salinity was found to improve the significant growth parameters of some algae [9]. Generally, freshwater aquatic plants are not tolerant to increasing salinity, however, some studies reported that under high-saline conditions, phytoplankton species capable to withstand withstand higher salinities become abundant and replace the phytoplankton community adapted to freshwater systems [10], increasing the overall productivity of the aquatic ecosystem. In 2019, Everard et al. assessed ecosystem services of selected wetlands of Indo-Gangetic Delta, including East Kolkata Wetlands, and monitored whether the water management of the EKW Sundarban ecotone region supports salinity regulation service or not [11]. In 2016, Trivedi et al. reported an alarming hypersaline environment around the central Indian Sundarbans while studying the inter-annual variation of salinity based on 30 years’ data (1984 to 2013) [12].