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Ecotones

Ecotones are areas where two distinct communities meet. These ecotones have relatively sharp transitions while others are often subtle.

QTVR (right)- Moving from left to right are pond cypress, wet prairie, and pine flatwoods. Pan over to see the small prescribed burn area behind the Naturalist guide.

Above is an interactive panorama represented as a QuickTime VR movie. Click and drag the mouse to pan and tilt the view. Depress the shift and control keys to zoom in or zoom out.

The above panorama shows an example of an ecotone in intermountain depressional prairie potholes and Palouse prairie vegetation. The topographic and hydrologic variation affects the plant community composition and productivity. The zonation patterns ringing these wetlands are an example of a sharp change from a wetland plant to Palouse prairie.