Distribution and Dynamics of Soil Organisms Across Ecotones

Abstract

Ecotones are a widespread phenomenon in nature, and they are an inseparable element of every landscape, whether natural or anthropogenic. They create a natural border among adjacent merocenospecies, cenospecies, and biomes. In some biomes, the ecotones occupy a considerable part of the total land area, such as in the tundra biome and in the alpine and subalpine zones. On a macroscale, the transitional zones between tundra and taiga, forest and steppe, desert and tropical forest (i.e., forest tundra, forest steppe, and savannah) should be considered ecotones. On a microscale, the borders among merocenoses, such as the border of a moss cushion in contact with the surrounding litter-covered soil inside a forest, should be considered ecotones as well. Knowledge of the structure and function of ecotones is an important task of contemporary ecology, and soil biology is able to contribute considerably to this topic.