Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Ecological habitat on the scale of individual organisms sharing space. Many ecotopes together, either adjacent or overlapping, make up an eco-region or larger unit.
  • noun An ecotope comprises all the constituent parts found at that locality on the same scale, such as the physiotope (landform), the geotope (rocks and soil) and the biotope (living flora and fauna).

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Greek οίκος "house" + τόπος "place"

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Examples

  • Arthur Tansley, originator of the ecosystem concept, introduced the term ecotope in 1939, to give a more spatially-explicit defintion to the ecosystem concept by joining the term eco - (from the Greek "oikos" ; house, household) with - tope (Greek topos; place, locality).

    Ecotope 2008

  • The expedition will seek to clarify the Dodos ecotope and explain why it became extinct.

    More Dodo Expeditie Info 2007

  • A variety of ecotope mapping and classification systems now exist, and are tailored to specific purposes, ranging from regional studies of fine-scale habitat types to mapping ecologically-distinct anthropogenic land units within small samples of landscapes.

    Ecotope 2008

  • However, just as ecosystems are defined by the interaction of biotic and abiotic components, ecotope classification systems should stratify landscapes using a combination of both biotic and abiotic factors, including vegetation, soils, hydrology, and other factors.

    Ecotope 2008

  • The expedition will seek to clarify the Dodos ecotope and explain why it became extinct.

    Dodo Expeditie Weblog 2006

  • “There are indications that the fossil-rich layer represents the result of natural disaster wiping out a significant part of the Dodo-ecotope,” a statement by the researchers said.

    Dodos killed by natural disaster 2006

  • The darkness of the underground ecotope not only relaxes the selection acting on the visual system, but through the metabolic gain yielded by visual system reduction also imposes a selective pressure acting in favor of its regression

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Ondřej Kott et al. 2010

  • By mike, February 10, 2009 @ 9:38 am whoops, i meant ecotope. how do you guys justify consultant spending as the economy tightens down? we get more and more calls from consultants looking for work or tipping us to RFIs, and at times it seems like we’re looking for ways to trim the fat just in case.

    Build Blog » Residential Construction Cost Cheat-Sheet 2009

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