Tropical freshwater ecotones: their formation, functions and use
View/ Open
Date
2001Author
Bugenyi, F. W. B.
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Tropical water-terrestrial ecotones play important roles in regulating the flow of materials from and to land and
water ecosystems. Ecotones exist where active interactions between two or more adjacent ecosystems occur with
the appearance of processes that do not exist in either of the adjacent ecosystems.They occur naturally depending
on the hydrological and geomorphological structure of the location. External and internal processes can influence
the origin and persistence of ecotones. Ecotones regulate the landscape mosaic, affect energy flow between adjacent
systems and intervene in landscape connectivity.
The literature on geological and climatic origins of wetlands and open waters, internal influences on their
creation and destruction and, finally, their use by society is reviewed.
Citation
Hydrobiologia 458: 33-43, 2001,Publisher
Khuwer Academic Publishers. Fisheries Resources Research Institute,