Definition of "ecotone" [ecotone]

• A transitional zone between two communities containing the characteristic species of each. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Remember the tree line is not a line, but an ecotone, which is the case of latitudinal tree ‘lines’ can be very broad."
• "Give it a zone of transition — an ecotone — where both land and water can be occupied simultaneously."
• "The heathland (vera) which forms a narrow ecotone between the dunes and the marsh and also covers the land furthest from the Guadalquiver, is a series of low ridges and hollows."