Agro\|pasturage ecotone (APE) is the transitional zone which is characterized by ecological vulnerability, poverty and multi\|ethnic groups, and it is also a natural barrier for ecological security. In this paper, we reviewed development history and major problems in APE and proposed that the future work in APE should focus on multi\|subjects synthesis centered with ecology. The promising topics might be production ecology, restoration ecology, interface ecology, grazing ecology, health diagnoses and evaluation in APE. Among these topics, productivity ecology is the guarantee of improving the productivity in APE, and thus studies on the coupling of crop and grassland systems should be enhanced; restoration ecology is the base for restoring degraded ecosystems in APE; interface ecology is the cut\|in point for analyzing the mechanisms causing the degradation in APE; grazing ecology is the method of regulating the degradation of crop and grassland; diagnoses of the health of APE is benefit to accurate evaluation of the degraded ecosystems in APE; and evaluation for APE is also considered as an estimation on services and benefits of agro\|pasturage ecosystems.