Primary Succession in Glacier Forelands: How Small Animals Conquer New Land Around Melting Glaciers

Hågvar, Sigmund

doi:10.5772/26536

Cited by 30 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This is in accordance with previous studies on terrestrial invertebrate primary successions along glacier forelands (Hågvar, 2012). The same trend was expected for chironomids , known to be represented species other than Diamesa spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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Do carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) exhibit similar diversity and distributional patterns along a spatio-temporal gradient on a glacier foreland?

Gobbi

Lencioni

2018

J Limnol

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Carabid beetles and chironomid midges are two dominant cold-adapted taxa, respectively on glacier forefiel terrains and in glacialstream rivers. Although their sensitivity to high altitude climate warming is well known, no studies compare the species assemblages exhibited in glacial systems. Our study compares diversity and distributional patterns of carabids and chironomids in the foreland of the receding Amola glacier in central-eastern Italian Alps. Carabids were sampled by pitfall traps; chironomids by kick sampling in sites located at the same distance from the glacier as the terrestrial ones. The distance from the glacier front was considered as a proxy for time since deglaciation since these variables are positively correlated. We tested if the distance from the glacier front affects: i) the species richness; ii) taxonomic diversity; and iii) species turnover. Carabid species richness and taxonomic diversity increased positively from recently deglaciated sites (those ca. 160 m from the glacier front) to sites deglaciated more than 160 yrs ago (those located >1300 m from glacier front). Species distributions along the glacier foreland were characterized by mutually exclusive species. Conversely, no pattern in chironomid species richness and turnover was observed. Interestingly, taxonomic diversity increased significantly: closely related species were found near the glacier front, while the most taxonomically diverse species assemblages were found distant from the glacier front. Increasing glacial retreat differently affect epigeic and aquatic insect taxa: carabids respond faster to glacier retreat than do chironomids, at least in species richness and species turnover patterns.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Plots located at increasing distance from the glacier front allow description of a space-for-time biotic substitution. Because distance from the glacier front and time since deglaciation are strongly positivelly correlated, both variables represent a temporal sequence (Matthews, 2008;Hågvar, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) exhibit similar diversity and distributional patterns along a spatio-temporal gradient on a glacier foreland?

Gobbi

Lencioni

2018

J Limnol

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“…The pioneer community was an interesting mix of generalists and specialists, and of various life strategies [26,32]. Among early springtails and mites, there were both parthenogenetic and bisexual species, and species with either a short or a long life cycle [24,25] …”

Section: Pioneer Arthropods-a Heterogenic Groupmentioning

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%

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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“…Recently, several papers have described invertebrate spatio-temporal distribution in relation to glacier retreat (see Hågvar 2012), but often they did not consider the potential occurrence of spatial autocorrelation. Nevertheless, the presence of spatial autocorrelation in species distribution along the primary succession of glacier forelands should be taken into account to avoid possible misinterpretations of distribution patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of spatial autocorrelation in the distribution and diversity of carabid beetles and spiders along Alpine glacier forelands

Gobbi

Brambilla

2016

Italian Journal of Zoology

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Spatial autocorrelation is a common feature of ecological data and can be found in the distribution pattern of many species or in the diversity of many species assemblages. The presence of spatial autocorrelation in species distribution along primary successions on recently deglaciated terrains has been largely overlooked until now, despite its potential consequences for comparisons between glacier forelands. Here, we investigated the occurrence of spatial autocorrelation at different spatial scales in the distribution and diversity of ground beetles and spiders along glacier forelands. We found positive spatial autocorrelation in patterns of occurrence of most species and in patterns of species assemblages diversity at spatial scales representing single (< 3 km) or adjacent valleys (< 7 km), whereas at a larger spatial scales (0-30 km) such positive spatial autocorrelation disappeared. We concluded that spatial autocorrelation could be a key issue for studies investigating distribution of arthropods, including in glacier forelands, in order to perform more robust analysis and to avoid misinterpretation of species distribution in relation to the glacier retreat and other environmental characteristics.

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Primary Succession in Glacier Forelands: How Small Animals Conquer New Land Around Melting Glaciers

Cited by 30 publications

References 31 publications

Do carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) exhibit similar diversity and distributional patterns along a spatio-temporal gradient on a glacier foreland?

Do carabids (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) exhibit similar diversity and distributional patterns along a spatio-temporal gradient on a glacier foreland?

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

Patterns of spatial autocorrelation in the distribution and diversity of carabid beetles and spiders along Alpine glacier forelands

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