Ecotones

In this area, do you notice how quickly the type of habitat changes? On one side of the path, you can find tall messmates, with more open grassy and open shrub woodland. To the other, the fern gully holds the lowest part of the land. You may hear frogs calling on one side, and crickets on the other.  These changes in habitat type can be dictated by topography, changes in soil type, or former land use, and are called Ecotones. Have you noticed other places where this has occurred along the walk? 

Ecotones can be wide and gradual, or a sharp line in others. Ecotones also exist at the meeting of freshwater and saltwater, or where there is an interface between an urban area and natural landscape.  

Often, the biodiversity in these areas is greater as there is a wider range of habitat available, and interactions between species can be more complex and varied.  At the beach, for example, the tideline, with its rockpools and their variety of life, make for a more distinct ecotone. What interactions do you think might happen in this more subtle change of habitat in Endeavour Fern Gully?