Ecotones Poem by gershon hepner

The area called an ecotone
is where the species form,
a very special breeding zone
where nothing is the norm,
for creatures from these edges move
to forests wet and dense,
abandoning their grassy groove
with their uncanny sense
that they must change and must evolve
while living on the edge,
like neighbors who their problems solve
while sitting on a hedge.
The ecotone becomes a bridge
to worlds that are diverse;
that’s why diasporas are rich,
for in them men rehearse
not only their accustomed tropes
but those of alien lives,
cross-pollinating with their hopes,
like bees released from hives.


Carol Kaesuk Yoon writes, in “Rain Forest Fringes May Harbor Engines of Evolution” (New York Times, July 1,1997) :

Researchers have found evidence that patchy transition zones between habitats, known as ecotones, may have an unrecognized value, possibly serving as the birthplace of the prized biodiversity of the rain forests.

7/1/97