• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Contact Us
The Land Between

The Land Between

Explore - Learn - Inspire

  • The Charity
    • What We Do
      • Programs and Projects
      • 7 Pillars-Program Areas
    • How We Operate
      • Honouring the Treaties
      • Reconciliation and Restoration
    • Transparency & Accountability
    • Our Partners & Supporters
    • The TLB Visitor’s Centre and Store
    • Meet the Team
  • The Region
    • A PRIORITY PLACE IN CANADA
    • Geography
    • Natural Habitats
    • Wildlife
      • Snakes, Turtles, and Skinks
    • Culture
    • The Creative Economy
    • Explore TLB
      • Trails & Paddles
      • Cultural Journeys
      • Parks & Reserves
  • Caring For Nature
    • Stewardship and Restoration
      • Shoreland Naturalization
        • Natural Shoreland Garden Workshops and Resources
        • The Natural Edge Shore Re-naturalization Site Visits
      • Habitat Health Check-Ups
      • Snapping Turtles and Your Lake
      • Incentives & Securement
    • Living in the The Land Between: A How-To Series
    • Civics
    • Community Climate Change Adaptation
    • Report a Species
  • Volunteer With Us
    • Phragmites Fighters
    • Snake Supervisors
    • Nightjar Surveys
    • Backyard Whippoorwill Challenge
    • Backyard BioBlitz Program
    • Birding in The Land Between
      • Bird Resources
      • Beginner Birding Centre
      • Aerial Insectivores
    • Turtle Guardians
  • Learning Centre
    • Species At Risk in The Land Between
    • Nature Connectedness and Behaviour Change
    • Research Results
    • Indigenous Knowledge
  • Program Areas
    • Supportive & Sustainable Economies
    • Biodiversity of the Land Between
    • Climate Change, Food Security, & Indigenous Ways of Knowing
    • Community Action/Science & Conservation
    • Civics and Municipal Policy
    • Sustainability & Living in the Land Between
    • Healthy Waters: Blue Lakes & Wetlands
    • Turtle Guardians
  • Current Efforts
    • Updates
    • Special Efforts
    • Newsletter: The Skink
    • Events
  • Community Board
    • Our Eco Heroes
  • News & Blogs
    • Newsletter: The Skink
  • Events
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Become a Friend of TLB
    • Sponsor
    • Shop

What’s an “Ecotone”?

August 9, 2021 by TLB

The striking physical features of the Canadian Shield ecosystem, known for bare outcrops of granite rock, of small lakes and thin layer of soil contrast with the St. Lawrence Lowlands ecosystem known for flatter lands, dominated by agriculture and limestone bedrock.[1] These landscapes are well known throughout south-central Ontario, however as ecosystems overlap and transition from one another, they can be characterized as a separate ecosystem, called an ‘Ecotone’.[2] This overlap can be observed in The Land Between and so it is characterized as an ecotone because we can see the ecosystem of the Canadian Shield and the St. Lawrence Lowlands meet each other in this landscape.

Did you know the origin of the word ecotone is of Greek origin, derived from the words “ecology” and “tone” meaning “house” in “tension”? [2] As each ecosystem transitions from one to the other it creates a unique landscape full of cultural and environmental significance, thus an ecosystem of its own. As the origin of the word suggests that these ecosystems are in tension, it can be described better as a natural mosaic and in the Land Between the patchwork is marked with undulations of elevation, changes in forest cover from woodlots to wetlands, rock barrens to meadows, and also a variety and abundance of species. [3,7] In fact, the various habitats present throughout this overlapping landscape results in different species being at their edge of their natural range and thus some of high species diversity in all of Ontario. The Land Between has natural “patchiness”, which is inherent in ecotones. [1] And this region has the highest percentage of intact and connected habitat patches, also known as habitat or beta diversity. The natural mosaic and patchwork that can be visualized through satellite imagery, can provide refuge for species that experience habitat range shifts due to climate change. [6]

The Land Between encompasses over 2400 large lakes. These aquatic ecosystems in this landscape also contain the headwaters for major river systems that flow into the Trent Severn Waterway, through the Ottawa River and find their way into Lake Ontario. [1] The exposed bare rocks seen throughout The Land Between are classified as Precambrian granite and sedimentary Ordovician Limestone. [5] a Along with the rock barrens, the depth of soil is on average less than 15cm across the region. The shallow soils reduce buffering capacity against pollutants from urban-style and residential development along the lakeshores. [1,7] This leaves the water systems sensitive to pollutants as they are highly interconnected. More, is that these waters have high numbers of human and non human beings reliant on them for residence and sustenance.The shorelines are also unique as they too have the “edge effect”, and are Ecotones, but here, where aquatic and terrestrial species can be found living in proximity or dynamic tension. [3]

The biodiversity of the Land Between is at risk as this fragile landscape, and the more vulnerable shores, are becoming highly developed as a result of the rapid growth of lakeshore residential conversions. The degradation of shorelands, adjacent forests and wetland habitats, can cause ripple effects that are long lasting, and which spread throughout the whole food web and aquatic ecosystems because these areas are highly interconnected. [1,6,7] Learning more about how to protect the valuable and beautiful non-human beings is a first step. Here there are species such as the loon, golden winged warbler, 7 native species of Turtle in the region, and also 50 plus additional species that are in jeopardy and who rely on this landscape as a final strong-hold.

The Land Between has many learning resources at your disposal and also has numerous opportunities to volunteer as a Community Scientist. TLB’s biologists provide training to learn how to observe, track and advocate for wildlife too- and all from your backyard! Learn more about how you can volunteer here!

Written by: Shahrzad Gharabaghi, Climate Change Research Specialist

Works Cited:

  1. Alley, P., Porchuck, B., & Berman, L. (2014, June). The Land Between as an Ecotone. https://www.thelandbetween.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Land-Between-as-an-ecotone.pdf
  2. Ecological Society of America. (n.d.). Ecotone explained. The Ecological Society of America. Retrieved from https://www.esa.org/esablog/about/ecotone-explained/
  3. Semlitsch, R. D., & Bodie, J. R. (2003). Biological criteria for buffer zones around wetlands and riparian habitats for amphibians and reptiles. Conservation Biology, 17(5), 1219-1228.
  4. Leithead, M. D., Anand, M., & Silva, L. C. (2010). Northward migrating trees establish in treefall gaps at the northern limit of the temperate–boreal ecotone, Ontario, Canada. Oecologia, 164(4), 1095-1106.
  5. Liu, K. B. (1990). Holocene paleoecology of the boreal forest and Great Lakes‐St. Lawrence forest in northern Ontario. Ecological Monographs, 60(2), 179-212.
  6. Brice, M. H., Vissault, S., Vieira, W., Gravel, D., Legendre, P., & Fortin, M. J. (2020). Moderate disturbances accelerate forest transition dynamics under climate change in the temperate–boreal ecotone of eastern North America. Global Change Biology, 26(8), 4418-4435.
  7. Risser, P. G. (1995). The status of the science examining ecotones. BioScience, 45(5), 318-325.

 

Category: Education, Water, What do You Mean The Land Between?, WildlifeTag: landscapes, nature, the land between

About TLB

Previous Post: « A New Partnership to Support Restoration and Reconciliation
Next Post: The Great Monarch Butterfly Migration »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Home
  • The Charity
  • The Region
  • Store
  • Donate
  • Become a Friend of TLB
  • Sponsor

The Land Between is a National Charity #805849916RR0001.
Your support helps us celebrate, conserve, and enhance this important region.

The Land Between
P.O. Box 1368
Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0
705-457-1222
info@thelandbetween.ca

We respectfully acknowledge that The Land Between is located within Williams Treaty 20 Mississauga Anishinaabeg territory and Treaty 61 Robinson-Huron treaty territory, in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg. The Land Between respectfully acknowledges that these First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.

Graphic logo for The Sknik newsletter

Newsletter Signup

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2022 The Land Between