Simulation of an ecotone in accordance with the mosaic characteristics of the formations of modern winter entocomplex on winter wheat

Abstract

The article discusses the construction of the main problem of phytosanitary diagnostics of an ecotone - its complex ecological structure, primarily a mosaic, which determines a high level of biodiversity as a consequence of the effect of ecotones, as well as the effects on phytophagous complexes on winter wheat.

An ecotone is the highly dynamic boundary between two disparate ecosystems:vegetation types and biomes. Ecotones can be very narrow and sharply defined, suchas a terrestrial-aquatic boundary, or they can represent a broad transition betweendiffering biomes, such as a gradual conversion between grassland and forest. Often, the flora and fauna found on either side of an ecotone will not be similar to one another,and species favoring one side of the ecotone will not fare as well on the other. Because of the variability in vegetation cover and abiotic factors characterizedby ecotones, biodiversity across an ecotone tends to be higher than in relativelyhomogeneous habitats on either side of the ecotone. Ecotones can be formed bynatural processes, such as floods, fires, and volcanic activity, but increasingly, humanland use activities have created ecotones. Examples of anthropogenic ecotones areagricultural-pastoral boundaries, urban-rural spaces, and parks or protected landadjacent to lands used to meet human resource needs.

One concern that land managers express over ecotones is that they favor the successof invasive species. Human land uses such as road building or agricultural activitiescreate ecotones with wholly different competition and predation regimes. Areas ofundisturbed natural habitat are typically more resistant to invasive species, but patcheswhere parts of previous ecosystems have been removed prove particularly prone tocolonization by invasives, such as fire ants, tumbleweed, or buffelgrass.

Ecotones usually prefer certain types of vegetation and fauna over others. Species requiring a high degree of stability and continuity of the habitat will not succeed in ornear ecotone; species adapted to breaches or boundaries can better utilize the sources found in these niches. Abiotic factors, such as erosion, sedimentation, snow accumulation, nutrient availability, salinity and temperature, are affected by certain cations and tend to differ from one side of the border to the other. Ecotones can also form microclimates that, in addition to others, belong to other species. For example, а а fields of winter wheat surrounded by a forest will be characterized by higher extreme temperatures and faster temperature changes than the surrounding forest. In addition, direct light reaching the ground will lead to accelerated evaporation and, possibly, dry meadow soils faster than in the forest.

 The features of an ecotone, in particular the presence of environmental friendliness between populations, its parameters — location, density, and other indicators.

Keywords: ecotone, biodiversity, landscape, entomophagous, ecotone mosaic, agrocenoses, winter wheat