An ecotone generally refers to the:

An ecotone generally refers to the:

frontier between two ecosystems of different evolutionary levels.
frontier between two ecosystems of same evolutionary levels.
integration of two ecosystems of different evolutionary levels.
integration of two ecosystems of graded evolutionary levels.
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UPSC Geoscientist – 2021
An ecotone is a transitional area between two distinct ecosystems. This zone can be a narrow belt or a wider area and typically exhibits characteristics of both adjacent ecosystems.
The core concept of an ecotone is the ‘frontier’ or ‘transition zone’ between two different ecological communities or ecosystems.
Ecotones often have a higher species diversity (edge effect) than the adjacent ecosystems, as they contain species from both communities as well as unique species adapted to the transitional conditions. The options relating to “evolutionary levels” are less central to the definition than the concept of a “frontier” or transition between *different* ecosystems.