“Florence Krall calls these edge-zones ecotones. Biologically, ecotones are transitional regions between two different habitats. Rife with the species of both areas, ecotones are places of diversity, combination, novelty, adaptation”(Mortimer-Sandilands, 2004, p. 46).
“To an ecologist, writes Krall, the edge effect carries the
connotation of a complex interplay of life forces where plant
communities, and the creatures they support, intermingle in
mosaics or change abruptly. But also metaphorically: much like
the ecotones in biotic communities, [margins in social and
cultural contexts] may be rich and dynamic transitional zones
and may provide great learning as well as suffering”
(Mortimer-Sandilands, 2004, p. 46).
Ecotone
I arrived to a completely new and unfamiliar environment.
I had no experience of living in the north.
I was completely out of my element.
I was ‘on the edge’.
