ecospeciesn.
/ˈiːkəʊˌspiːʃɪz/, /ˈɛkəʊˌspiːʃɪz/, U.S. /ˈɛkoʊˌspiʃiz/, /ˈikoʊˌspiʃiz/; See also species n. Biology.
Each of two or more populations of a species that can interbreed without a decline in fertility, though being distinct on ecological grounds such as in their range of distribution, usual habitat, morphology, or behaviour.
ΚΠ
1922 G. Turesson in Hereditas 3 102 In the efforts made by the writer to arrive at an understanding of the Linnean species from an ecological point of view—of the ecospecies, as I prefer to say in the following—studies have been made of a number of plant species.
1922 G. Turesson in Hereditas 3 347 The Linnean species represents an ecological unit..narrowed down to the ecological combination-limit. A genotype compound of this order is here termed an ecospecies.
1970 Mutation Res. 10 79 Whether the varieties which differ in morphological characters governed by one or two genes and which in the past have been selected under cultivation for distinct species can be treated as ecotypes of a single ecospecies, S[orghum] vulgare, is a question worth consideration.
2005 Stud. Hist. & Philos. Biol. & Biomed. Sci. 36 141 Ereshefsky holds that all concepts involved refer to a category of lineages (and thereby defends a form of species pluralism, as reflected in his use of the terms ‘biospecies’ ‘ecospecies’ and ‘phylospecies’).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1922