Lidicker and Peterson (1999) and Strayer et al. (2003) differentiated between two main types of edges: interactive (or ecotonal) edge and non-interactive (or matrix) edge. An ecological response variable within an interactive edge is larger or smaller than in either of the two neighbouring patch interiors. In contrast, response variable is intermediate in the case of a non-interactive edge (Fig. 8). It seems that in the zonal wooded-steppe of the Hungarian Plain, edges are interactive regarding species composition, species richness anddiversity, but they are non-interactive regarding some abiotic parameters. Thus our results emphasize that the very same edge may be interactive and non-interactive at the same time, when different characteristics are considered.