Vegetation Succession Pattern and Diversity Changes in a Glacier Valley, Central Alps, Austria

Raffl, Corinna; Mallaun, Martin; Mayer, R.; Erschbamer, Brigitta

doi:10.1657/1523-0430(2006)38[421:vspadc]2.0.co;2

Cited by 114 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…The pioneer stage is characterized by pioneer assemblages mainly composed of Saxifraga aizoides, S. oppositifolia, Linaria alpina, and Artemisia genipi (Raffl and Erschbamer, 2004;Raffl et al, 2006). The pioneers are then replaced by early successional species such as Trifolium pallescens and Poa alpina.…”

Section: Research Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the study area P. alpina is a ubiquitous species along the whole glacier foreland, occurring from the pioneer stage to the late successional stage (Erschbamer et al, 1999;Tscherko et al, 2004;Raffl and Erschbamer, 2004;Raffl et al, 2006), with highest abundances on the early successional stage (ice free since 40-70 years; Raffl et al, 2006). shoots were counted.…”

Section: The Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Earlier studies related changes in reproduction with changes in temperatures (see Fig. 1), soil quality (Tscherko et al, 2004), or above-and belowground community development (Bardgett et al, 2005;Raffl et al, 2006). At the pioneer stage the mean annual temperature is lower than at the older stages and the duration of snow cover is longer, thus harsher conditions prevail close to the glacier tongue.…”

Section: Fecundity Parameters and Successional Stagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Poa alpina plays a predominant role among the few species that occur across the whole range of a successional gradient on glacier forelands in the central Austrian Alps (Raffl et al, 2006). Using permanent plot data and matrix analysis, Marcante et al (2009b) investigated the life cycles of Poa alpina and three other species along this gradient.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Demographic Consequences of the Two Reproductive Modes in Poa alpina L. along a Primary Succession Gradient in the Central Alps

Winkler¹,

Marcante

Erschbamer

2010

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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Section: Research Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fecundity Parameters and Successional Stagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Demographic Consequences of the Two Reproductive Modes in Poa alpina L. along a Primary Succession Gradient in the Central Alps

Winkler¹,

Marcante

Erschbamer

2010

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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“…(2007) studied the microbial community succession over deglaciated soils and showed that evenness, phylogenetic diversity, and the number of phylotypes were lowest in the youngest soils, increased in the intermediate‐aged soils, and plateaued in the oldest soils. Different other studies (Gobbi, Bernardi, Pelfini, Rossaro, & Brandmayr, 2006; Fernández‐Martínez et al., 2017; Jones & Henry, 2003; Raffl, Mallaun, Mayer, & Erschbamer, 2006; Tscherko et al. 2008) reported the evidence of primary successions of plants, bacteria, nutrients, etc., along glacier foreland chronosequences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The last 50 years of climate‐induced melting of the Maliy Aktru glacier (Altai Mountains, Russia) revealed in a primary ecological succession

Gatti

Dudko

Lim

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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In this article, we report and discuss the results obtained from a survey of plants, microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), and soil elements along a chronosequence in the first 600 m of the Maliy Aktru glacier's forefront (Altai Mountains, Russia). Many glaciers of the world show effects of climate change. Nonetheless, except for some local reports, the ecological effects of deglaciation have been poorly studied and have not been quantitatively assessed in the Altai Mountains. Here, we studied the ecological changes of plants, fungi, bacteria, and soil elements that take the form of a primary ecological succession and that took place over the deglaciated soil of the Maliy Aktru glacier during the last 50 year. According to our measurements, the glacier lost about 12 m per year during the last 50 years. Plant succession shows clear signs of changes along the incremental distance from the glacier forefront. The analysis of the plant α‐ and β‐diversity confirmed an expected increase of them with increasing distance from the glacier forefront. Moreover, the analysis of β‐diversity confirmed the hypothesis of the presence of three main stages of the plant succession: (a) initial (pioneer species) from 30 to 100 m; (b) intermediate (r‐selected species) from 110 to 120–150 m; and (c) final (K‐selected species) from 150 to 550. Our study also shows that saprotrophic communities of fungi are widely distributed in the glacier retreating area with higher relative abundances of saprotroph ascomycetes at early successional stages. The evolution of a primary succession is also evident for bacteria, soil elements, and CO 2 emission and respiration. The development of biological communities and the variation in geochemical parameters represent an irrefutable proof that climate change is altering soils that have been long covered by ice.

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Natural succession on abandoned cropland effectively decreases the soil erodibility and improves the fungal diversity

Zhang

Liu

Song

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Changes in plants and soils during natural succession have been evaluated, but little is known about the effects of succession on the activities of soil microbes and their interactions with soil erodibility. We conducted a field study on the Chinese Loess Plateau, typical of this semiarid area, to determine the effect of secondary succession on the stability of soil structure against erosion and on the composition of soil fungal communities. Characteristics of plant, soil, and fungal communities were assessed across a 30-yr chronosequence of grassland developed from abandoned cropland. The diversity and composition of the fungal communities were determined using high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer. Six grasslands were selected to represent different successional age classes: 0 (cropland), 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 yr. Short-term decreases (initial 5 yr) in the amounts of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and fungal biomass and in fungal diversity had returned to original levels (i.e., cropland) within 15 yr and were much higher after continued succession. Abandoning cropland for succession caused the soil erodibility (K) decrease and the aboveground coverage, soil nutrient levels, content of larger (>5 mm) water-stable aggregate, mean aggregate weight diameter, and diversity of the fungal communities improvement including arbuscular mycorrhizas (AMF), ectomycorrhizas (EMF), and saprotrophs. The fungal communities were dominated by Ascomycota, Zygomycota, Basidiomycota, and Glomeromycota during the succession. The successional patterns of the plant and fungal communities were similar, although distinct fungal communities were not observed in the two initial stages, suggesting that fungal succession may develop more slowly than plant succession. Plant root biomass, EMF, and soil organic carbon content accounted for most of the variation of soil erodibility (28.6%, 19.5%, and 11.8%, respectively), indicating their importance in shaping soil structure to prevent erosion. Our results demonstrated that abandoning cropland for natural succession could decrease soil erodibility and increase fungal diversity. EMF plays an important role in soil stability against erosion in the Loess Plateau. Abandoning cropland for natural succession should be recommended for alleviating soil erosion and improving the degraded soils in this area.

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Vegetation Succession Pattern and Diversity Changes in a Glacier Valley, Central Alps, Austria

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 114 publications

References 40 publications

Demographic Consequences of the Two Reproductive Modes in Poa alpina L. along a Primary Succession Gradient in the Central Alps

Demographic Consequences of the Two Reproductive Modes in Poa alpina L. along a Primary Succession Gradient in the Central Alps

The last 50 years of climate‐induced melting of the Maliy Aktru glacier (Altai Mountains, Russia) revealed in a primary ecological succession

Natural succession on abandoned cropland effectively decreases the soil erodibility and improves the fungal diversity

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