Editing Ecotype (section)

==Summary==
An ecotype refers to organisms which belong to the same species but have different phenotypical characteristics as a result of their adaptations to different habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vogt |first=Günter |date=2022-12-26 |title=Environmental Adaptation of Genetically Uniform Organisms with the Help of Epigenetic Mechanisms—An Insightful Perspective on Ecoepigenetics |journal=Epigenomes |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.3390/epigenomes7010001 |doi-access=free |issn=2075-4655 |pmc=9844400 |pmid=36648862}}</ref> Differences between these two groups is attributed to phenotypic plasticity and are too few for them to be termed as wholly different species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=FazlioğLu |first=Fatih |date=2018-10-31 |title=Phenotypic plasticity of ecotypes across habitats |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.29278/azd.476663 |journal=Akademik Ziraat Dergisi |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=245–250 |doi=10.29278/azd.476663 |issn=2147-6403}}</ref> Emergence of variants of the same species may occur in the same geographical region where different habitats provide distinct ecological niches for these organisms. Examples of these habitats include meadows, forests, swamps, and sand dunes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Goebl |first1=April M. |last2=Kane |first2=Nolan C. |last3=Doak |first3=Daniel F. |last4=Rieseberg |first4=Loren H. |last5=Ostevik |first5=Kate L. |date=2022-11-29 |title=Adaptation to distinct habitats is maintained by contrasting selection at different life stages in sunflower ecotypes |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16785 |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=e16785 |language=en |doi=10.1111/mec.16785 |pmid=36374153 |issn=0962-1083}}</ref> Where similar ecological conditions occur in widely separated places, it is possible for a similar ecotype to occur in the separated locations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hirao |first1=Akira S. |last2=Shimono |first2=Yoshiko |last3=Narita |first3=Kenji |last4=Wada |first4=Naoya |last5=Kudo |first5=Gaku |date=June 2019 |title=Ecotypic divergences of the alpine herb Potentilla matsumurae adapted to fellfield–snowbed habitats across a series of mountain sky islands |url=https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajb2.1290 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=772–787 |doi=10.1002/ajb2.1290 |pmid=31124143 |issn=0002-9122|hdl=2115/75281 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Karpiński |first1=Lech |last2=Gorring |first2=Patrick |last3=Kruszelnicki |first3=Lech |last4=Kasatkin |first4=Denis G. |last5=Szczepański |first5=Wojciech T. |date=2021-04-16 |title=A fine line between species and ecotype: a case study of Anoplistes halodendri and A. kozlovi (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) occurring sympatrically in Mongolia |url=https://arthropod-systematics.arphahub.com/article/61499/ |journal=Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny |volume=79 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.3897/asp.79.e61499 |doi-access=free |issn=1864-8312}}</ref> An ecotype is different from a subspecies, which may exist across a number of different habitats.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marion |first1=Loïc |last2=Le Gentil |first2=Jérôme |date=2022-07-01 |title=Habitat Specialisation Affects Fitness of the Marine and Continental Great Cormorant Subspecies in a Recently Evolved Sympatric Area |url=https://bioone.org/journals/ardea/volume-109/issue-3/arde.v109i2.a17/Habitat-Specialisation-Affects-Fitness-of-the-Marine-and-Continental-Great/10.5253/arde.v109i2.a17.full |journal=Ardea |volume=109 |issue=3 |doi=10.5253/arde.v109i2.a17 |issn=0373-2266|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In animals, ecotypes owe their differing characteristics to the effects of a very local environment which has been hypothesized to lead to speciation through the emergence of reproductive barriers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Malec |first1=Pawel |last2=Weber |first2=Justus |last3=Böhmer |first3=Robin |last4=Fiebig |first4=Marc |last5=Meinert |first5=Denise |last6=Rein |first6=Carolin |last7=Reinisch |first7=Ronja |last8=Henrich |first8=Maik |last9=Polyvas |first9=Viktoria |last10=Pollmann |first10=Marie |last11=von Berg |first11=Lea |last12=König |first12=Christian |last13=Steidle |first13=Johannes L. M. |date=2021-11-15 |title=The emergence of ecotypes in a parasitoid wasp: a case of incipient sympatric speciation in Hymenoptera? |journal=BMC Ecology and Evolution |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |page=204 |doi=10.1186/s12862-021-01938-y |doi-access=free |issn=2730-7182 |pmc=8591844 |pmid=34781897}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ernst Mayr|title=Systematics and the Origin of Species, from the Viewpoint of a Zoologist|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1999|chapter=VIII-Nongeographic speciation|pages=194–195|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mAIjnLp6r_MC&pg=PA194|isbn=9780674862500}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Fuhrmann |first1=Nico |title=Polygenic adaptation from standing genetic variation allows rapid ecotype formation |date=2021-04-18 |url=http://biorxiv.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/2021.04.16.440113 |access-date=2024-11-17 |language=en |doi=10.1101/2021.04.16.440113 |last2=Prakash |first2=Celine |last3=Kaiser |first3=Tobias S.}}</ref> Therefore, ecotypes have no [[taxonomic rank]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turrill |first=W. B. |date=June 1946 |title=The Ecotype Concept: A Consideration With Appreciation and Criticism, Especially of Recent Trends |url=https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1946.tb05044.x |journal=New Phytologist |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=34–43 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1946.tb05044.x |issn=0028-646X}}</ref>