Ecological Functions in a Biome Transition Zone: Translating Local Responses to Broad-Scale Dynamics

Abstract

This chapter focuses on transition zones between biomes, describing the interactions between climate and topography that result in biome interactions in a semiarid region, and the role of scale in ecotone research. Many current research programs deal with the influence of a changing climate; however, the broad-scale nature of climate makes such studies difficult. Biome transition zones may be especially useful as a small-scale proxy for continental-scale, biogeographic patterns. Field studies of local features and species’ responses in these tension zones (e.g., soil textural heterogeneity, topographic patterns of responses, few-year responses to El Nino and La Nina events, range extensions) may serve as test cases for hypotheses about broader scales that are much less tractable, logistically.