Ancient carbon from a melting glacier gives high 14C age in living pioneer invertebrates

Hågvar, Sigmund; Ohlson, Mikael

doi:10.1038/srep02820

Cited by 48 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Furthermore, radiocarbon dating of chironomid midges and four predators, which were pitfall trapped on a 6-7-year-old ground showed that they all contained ancient carbon. The wolf spider P. trailli, had a radiocarbon age of 340 years, the harvestman M. morio 570 years, the carabid beetle N. nivalis 690 years, the carabid beetle B. hastii 1100 years and chironomid midges 1040 years [29]. Even larvae and adults of predatory diving beetles collected in young ponds had a radiocarbon age of 1100-1200 years.…”

Section: Ancient Carbon As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their guts contained a rather compact material dominated by tiny mineral particles, but diatom algae could often be seen [29,31] (Figure 13). We assume that mineral particles were ingested accidentally when 'grazing' on biofilm.…”

Section: Terrestrial Biofilm As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chironomid midges thus supported early succession, and bound aquatic and terrestrial food webs together [29,30].…”

Section: Ancient Carbon As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within ponds, chironomid larvae were eaten by predatory diving beetles. Adult midges transported ancient carbon to terrestrial predators [29,30]. The presence of predators before visible plants, often referred to as the 'predator first paradox' [13], can to a large degree be explained by local production of chironomid prey from young ponds.…”

Section: Age 3-7 Years: Bare Ground or Only Scattered Pioneer Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since 2001, extensive zoological studies have been performed here to describe and understand arthropod succession patterns (Figure 1). These studies include soil-living microarthropods [24,25], surface active beetles, spiders and harvestmen [26,27], aerial transport of arthropods [28], studies on ancient carbon released by the glacier [29,30], food choice of pioneers [31], as well as a special focus on early succession [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Animal Successional Pathways for about 200 Years Near a Melting Glacier: A Norwegian Case Study

Hågvar¹,

Ohlson²,

Flø³

2017

Glaciers Evolution in a Changing World

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Here, we explore 200 years of arthropod succession by using dated moraines in a Norwegian glacier foreland. Surface active beetles (Coleoptera) and spiders (Aranea) were sampled by pitfall trapping, and springtails (Collembola) and mites (Acari) were extracted from soil samples. Newly deglaciated ground was rapidly colonised by a mixture of generalists and specialists, with various life strategies. Interestingly, the pioneer community was fed by three 'invisible' food sources: biofilm with terrestrial diatom algae, tiny pioneer mosses and chironomid midges whose larvae were pond-living and used ancient carbon that was released by the melting glacier as an energy source. The true 'super-pioneers' were biofilm-eating springtails, which tracked the melting ice edge closely. Most species of beetles and springtails colonised within 80 years, while spiders and oribatid mites needed a longer time span to colonise. Topography influenced the succession pattern. Among both surface-living macroarthropods and soil-living microarthropods, we distinguished between a 'dry' and a 'wet' successional pathway with different community structure. Most arthropod species persisted after colonisation, but certain species preferring open space or low temperature were gradually excluded. Comparisons are made with botanical succession. Sampling methods, material size, and taxonomic resolution were considered critical factors when studying arthropod succession.

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Section: Ancient Carbon As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Terrestrial Biofilm As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chironomid midges thus supported early succession, and bound aquatic and terrestrial food webs together [29,30].…”

Section: Ancient Carbon As Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Age 3-7 Years: Bare Ground or Only Scattered Pioneer Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Animal Successional Pathways for about 200 Years Near a Melting Glacier: A Norwegian Case Study

Hågvar¹,

Ohlson²,

Flø³

2017

Glaciers Evolution in a Changing World

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Radiocarbon age-offsets in an arctic lake reveal the long-term response of permafrost carbon to climate change

Gaglioti

Mann

Jones

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosci.

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Continued warming of the Arctic may cause permafrost to thaw and speed the decomposition of large stores of soil organic carbon (OC), thereby accentuating global warming. However, it is unclear if recent warming has raised the current rates of permafrost OC release to anomalous levels or to what extent soil carbon release is sensitive to climate forcing. Here we use a time series of radiocarbon age-offsets ( 14 C) between the bulk lake sediment and plant macrofossils deposited in an arctic lake as an archive for soil and permafrost OC release over the last 14,500 years. The lake traps and archives OC imported from the watershed and allows us to test whether prior warming events stimulated old carbon release and heightened age-offsets. Today, the age-offset (2 ka; thousand of calibrated years before A.D. 1950) and the depositional rate of ancient OC from the watershed into the lake are relatively low and similar to those during the Younger Dryas cold interval (occurring 12.9-11.7 ka). In contrast, age-offsets were higher (3.0-5.0 ka) when summer air temperatures were warmer than present during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (11.7-9.0 ka) and Bølling-Allerød periods (14.5-12.9 ka). During these warm times, permafrost thaw contributed to ancient OC depositional rates that were~10 times greater than today. Although permafrost OC was vulnerable to climate warming in the past, we suggest surface soil organic horizons and peat are presently limiting summer thaw and carbon release. As a result, the temperature threshold to trigger widespread permafrost OC release is higher than during previous warming events.

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Late Devensian deglaciation of the Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream, northern England

Livingstone

Roberts

Davies

et al. 2015

J Quaternary Science

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The deglacial history of the central sector of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet is poorly constrained, particularly along major ice-stream flow paths. The Tyne Gap Palaeo-Ice Stream (TGIS) was a major fast-flow conduit of the British-Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. We reconstruct the pattern and constrain the timing of retreat of this ice stream using cosmogenic radionuclide ( 10 Be) dating of exposed bedrock surfaces, radiocarbon dating of lake cores and geomorphological mapping of deglacial features. Four of the five 10 Be samples produced minimum ages between 17.8 and 16.5 ka. These were supplemented by a basal radiocarbon date of 15.7 AE 0.1 cal ka BP, in a core recovered from Talkin Tarn in the Brampton Kame Belt. Our new geochronology indicates progressive retreat of the TGIS from 18.7 to 17.1 ka, and becoming ice free before 16.4-15.7 ka. Initial retreat and decoupling of the TGIS from the North Sea Lobe is recorded by a prominent moraine 10-15 km inland of the present-day coast. This constrains the damming of Glacial Lake Wear to a period before $18.7-17.1 ka in the area deglaciated by the contraction of the TGIS. We suggest that retreat of the TGIS was part of a regional collapse of ice-dispersal centres between 18 and 16 ka.

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Ancient carbon from a melting glacier gives high 14C age in living pioneer invertebrates

Cited by 48 publications

References 30 publications

Animal Successional Pathways for about 200 Years Near a Melting Glacier: A Norwegian Case Study

Animal Successional Pathways for about 200 Years Near a Melting Glacier: A Norwegian Case Study

Radiocarbon age-offsets in an arctic lake reveal the long-term response of permafrost carbon to climate change

Late Devensian deglaciation of the Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream, northern England

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