Ecotype

Ecotype as a particular form of a living organism is known, which is genetically fixed own ecological demands to its environment in comparison to other populations of the same species. The term ecotype was coined in 1922 by Swedish botanist Gothenburg Turesson and is used especially in plants. The concept of ecotype is largely identical to the concept of ecological race that stands there as opposed to geographical race often used in zoology. By the nature of its formation the biotype is a special case of the ecotype, as this term refers to populations of a species that arose by autogamy or by parthenogenesis.

Although an ecotype differs by the action of selection due to the particular ecological conditions genetically and physiologically from other parts of the population, these properties are not used to describe the organism as a separate species and to entitle her own so formal taxonomic position.

Animals

When Sotalia Porpoise ( Sotalia fluviatilis) are two different ecotypes or ecological races. The first ecotype " Sotalia fluviatilis guianensis ," living on the Atlantic coast between Nicaragua and Brazil. The second, " Sotalia fluviatilis fluviatilis ," inhabits the Amazon and its tributaries. Similarly, also in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus ) two, distinguished by some scientists even three ecotypes.

Plant

In plants, the formation of ecotypes because of the low mobility of the plant (through the formation of diasporas are also plants "mobile" ) is more common than in the animal kingdom. Thus, for example, of the thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana ) worldwide more than 750 different ecotypes known.

Humans also contributes through the use of nature to the fact that ecotypes are promoted in plants. So may be visible when timothy depending on the type of land use pasture shape and a meadow form.

In Galium aparine, which is found in various habitats, could be detected two different ecotypes, a " Ackerökotyp " and a " Nichtackerökotyp ". The two ecotypes differ both in terms of their development strategy and in terms of a variety of morphological and phenological characteristics of their ( resentment and Mahn, 1986).

A very impressive example of ecotypes of a species has left us Gothenburg Turesson itself. He left on the premises of the Swedish University of Agrarwissenschaftenin Ultuna a row of trees with the downy birch from different latitudes in Sweden plant. The trees represent a " genetic gradient " of Skåne in southern Sweden to Lapland and occupy today in their phenological phenomena research results Turessons in a spectacular way: The departure of birch buds begin to Südbäumen first and continues successively to the north continued, while the leaf color autumn begins in the trees in the north and in the south discolor the leaves of the birches as the last and fall.

Bacteria

Bacteria reproduce asexually by binary fission. As a result, may be fixed in terms of reproductive communities at no bacteria species ( species). " Microbial Species" are therefore to be regarded as bacterial ecotypes and not as biospecies that are defined by their ecological niche and its DNA sequence.