Editing Ecotype (section)

==Range and distribution==
[[File:Panicum_virgatum_ecotypes.png|thumb|366x366px|''[[Panicum virgatum]]'' ecotypes and their distribution in [[North America]]]]
Research indicates that sometimes ecotypes manifest when separated by great geographical distances as a result of genetic drift that may lead to significant genetic differences and hence variation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=MäKinen |first1=Tuuli |last2=Panova |first2=Marina |last3=Johannesson |first3=Kerstin |last4=Tatarenkov |first4=Andrey |last5=Appelqvist |first5=Christin |last6=André |first6=Carl |date=2008-04-29 |title=Genetic differentiation on multiple spatial scales in an ecotype-forming marine snail with limited dispersal: Littorina saxatilis: GENETIC STRUCTURE IN LITTORINA |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-lookup/doi/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.00960.x |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=31–40 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.00960.x}}</ref> Ecotypes may also emerge from local adaptation of species occupying small geographical scales (<1km), in such cases divergent selection due to selective pressure as a result of differences in microhabitats drive differentiation. <ref name=":0" /> Hybridization among populations may increase population gene flow and reduce the effects of natural selection.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Qiujie |last2=Karunarathne |first2=Piyal |last3=Andersson-Li |first3=Lili |last4=Chen |first4=Chen |last5=Opgenoorth |first5=Lars |last6=Heer |first6=Katrin |last7=Piotti |first7=Andrea |last8=Vendramin |first8=Giovanni Giuseppe |last9=Nakvasina |first9=Elena |last10=Lascoux |first10=Martin |last11=Milesi |first11=Pascal |date=September 2024 |title=Recurrent hybridization and gene flow shaped Norway and Siberian spruce evolutionary history over multiple glacial cycles |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17495 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=17 |pages=e17495 |doi=10.1111/mec.17495 |pmid=39148357 |bibcode=2024MolEc..33E7495Z |issn=0962-1083|hdl=20.500.11850/690117 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Macholán |first=Miloš |title=Hybridization, Organismal |date=2024 |work=Reference Module in Life Sciences |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780128225639001372 |access-date=2024-11-17 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-822563-9.00137-2 |isbn=978-0-12-809633-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref>[[hybrid (biology)|Hybridization]] here is defined as when different but adjacent varieties of the same species (or generally of the same [[taxonomic rank]]) interbreed, which helps overcome local selection.<ref name="BTH" /> However other studies reveal that ecotypes may emerge even at very small scales (of the order of 10 m), within populations, and despite hybridization.<ref name="BTH" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=James |first1=Maddie E |last2=Arenas-Castro |first2=Henry |last3=Groh |first3=Jeffrey S |last4=Allen |first4=Scott L |last5=Engelstädter |first5=Jan |last6=Ortiz-Barrientos |first6=Daniel |date=2021-10-27 |editor-last=Purugganan |editor-first=Michael |title=Highly Replicated Evolution of Parapatric Ecotypes |url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/11/4805/6319724 |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |language=en |volume=38 |issue=11 |pages=4805–4821 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msab207 |issn=0737-4038 |pmc=8557401 |pmid=34254128}}</ref>

In ecotypes, it is common for continuous, gradual geographic variation to impose analogous phenotypic and genetic variation, a situation which leads to the emergence of [[Cline (biology)|clines]].<ref name="BTH" /> A well-known example of a cline is the skin color gradation in indigenous human populations worldwide, which is related to latitude and amounts of sunlight.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Sciences (US) |first1=National Academy of |title=Human Skin Pigmentation as an Adaptation to UV Radiation |date=2010 |work=In the Light of Evolution: Volume IV: The Human Condition |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK210015/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |publisher=National Academies Press (US) |language=en |last2=Avise |first2=John C. |last3=Ayala |first3=Francisco J.}}</ref><ref>"Race".  (2009). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref> Ecotypes may display two or more distinct and discontinuous phenotypes even within the same population.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Garduno Paz |first1=Monica V. |last2=Huntingford |first2=Felicity A. |last3=Garrett |first3=Sean |last4=Adams |first4=Colin E. |date=2019-03-24 |title=A phenotypically plastic magic trait promoting reproductive isolation in sticklebacks? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/587675 |access-date=2024-11-18 |doi=10.1101/587675 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Vogt |first=Günter |title=Epigenetic ecotypes in animals: persistent environmental adaptation in the absence of genetic variation |date=2022-03-02 |url=https://www.authorea.com/users/463069/articles/558284-epigenetic-ecotypes-in-animals-persistent-environmental-adaptation-in-the-absence-of-genetic-variation?commit=706e502c4e8247c885e1611df4629f1f84c5ad0b |access-date=2024-11-18 |doi=10.22541/au.164619271.14974300/v1}}</ref> Ecological systems may have a species abundance that can be either [[Bimodal distribution|bimodal]] or multimodal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Borges |first2=Paulo A. V. |last3=Whittaker |first3=Robert J. |date=May 2014 |title=Multimodal species abundance distributions: a deconstruction approach reveals the processes behind the pattern |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00829.x |journal=Oikos |language=en |volume=123 |issue=5 |pages=533–544 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00829.x |bibcode=2014Oikos.123..533M |issn=0030-1299|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Emergence of ecotypes may lead to [[speciation]] and can occur if conditions in a local environment change dramatically through space or time.<ref name="BTH" />