47
Abstract Marine fronts possess most of the main characteristics of ecotones, as
defined for land ecosystems, so fronts can be considered as true ecotones. In addition to land ecotones features, marine fronts are characterized by high biological
productivity, a property rarely (if ever) reported for terrestrial ecotones. Moreover,
concentration and retention of small planktonic forms in marine fronts plays a
much more important ecological role than analogous processes on land. Both high
biological production and retention/concentration are responsible for the noteworthy concentration of life at marine fronts. On the other hand, terrestrial landscapes
may be modified by human actions, usually increasing contrasts across boundaries
(habitat fragmentation); this is another significant difference with marine fronts,
which cannot be created by human actions, though they may present significant
long-term variability in response to climate change. Fronts and ecotones can represent unique habitats optimal to some species and inhospitable to others; they are
places of tension where evolution forces may be at work. The age and history of
fronts and ecotones may determine their functional properties, their ecological
impacts increasing with their persistence.
Keywords Ecotones · Environmental gradients · Biological production · Habitat
fragmentation · Atmospheric fronts · Marine fronts
Definitions of fronts refer us to the “ecotone” concept. As is true for landscape
ecology in general, the study of boundaries has largely been directed to terrestrial
systems (Cadenasso et al. 2003b; Sournia 1994), thus it remains to be explored if
marine fronts can be considered as genuine ecotones.
Ecotones can be viewed as zones where spatial or temporal rates of change in
ecological structure or function are rapid relative to rates across the landscape as a
whole (Hansen et al. 1992). A broad definition provided by di Castri and Hansen
(1992) states that an ecotone is “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”.
Chapter 6
Comparisons of Fronts with Terrestrial
Boundaries and the “Ecotone” Concept
© The Author(s) 2015
E.M. Acha et al., Ecological Processes at Marine Fronts,
SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15479-4_6
Abstract Marine fronts possess most of the main characteristics of ecotones, as
defined for land ecosystems, so fronts can be considered as true ecotones. In addition to land ecotones features, marine fronts are characterized by high biological
productivity, a property rarely (if ever) reported for terrestrial ecotones. Moreover,
concentration and retention of small planktonic forms in marine fronts plays a
much more important ecological role than analogous processes on land. Both high
biological production and retention/concentration are responsible for the noteworthy concentration of life at marine fronts. On the other hand, terrestrial landscapes
may be modified by human actions, usually increasing contrasts across boundaries
(habitat fragmentation); this is another significant difference with marine fronts,
which cannot be created by human actions, though they may present significant
long-term variability in response to climate change. Fronts and ecotones can represent unique habitats optimal to some species and inhospitable to others; they are
places of tension where evolution forces may be at work. The age and history of
fronts and ecotones may determine their functional properties, their ecological
impacts increasing with their persistence.
Keywords Ecotones · Environmental gradients · Biological production · Habitat
fragmentation · Atmospheric fronts · Marine fronts
Definitions of fronts refer us to the “ecotone” concept. As is true for landscape
ecology in general, the study of boundaries has largely been directed to terrestrial
systems (Cadenasso et al. 2003b; Sournia 1994), thus it remains to be explored if
marine fronts can be considered as genuine ecotones.
Ecotones can be viewed as zones where spatial or temporal rates of change in
ecological structure or function are rapid relative to rates across the landscape as a
whole (Hansen et al. 1992). A broad definition provided by di Castri and Hansen
(1992) states that an ecotone is “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”.
Chapter 6
Comparisons of Fronts with Terrestrial
Boundaries and the “Ecotone” Concept
© The Author(s) 2015
E.M. Acha et al., Ecological Processes at Marine Fronts,
SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15479-4_6