The development of terrestrial ecosystems emerging after glacier retreat

Abstract

The global retreat of glaciers is dramatically altering mountain and high-latitude landscapes, with new ecosystems developing from apparently barren substrates^1-4. The study of these emerging ecosystems is critical to understanding how climate change interacts with microhabitat and biotic communities and determines the future of ice-free terrains^1,5. Here, using a comprehensive characterization of ecosystems (soil properties, microclimate, productivity and biodiversity by environmental DNA metabarcoding⁶) across 46 proglacial landscapes worldwide, we found that all the environmental properties change with time since glaciers retreated, and that temperature modulates the accumulation of soil nutrients. The richness of bacteria, fungi, plants and animals increases with time since deglaciation, but their temporal patterns differ. Microorganisms colonized most rapidly in the first decades after glacier retreat, whereas most macroorganisms took longer. Increased habitat suitability, growing complexity of biotic interactions and temporal colonization all contribute to the increase in biodiversity over time. These processes also modify community composition for all the groups of organisms. Plant communities show positive links with all other biodiversity components and have a key role in ecosystem development. These unifying patterns provide new insights into the early dynamics of deglaciated terrains and highlight the need for integrated surveillance of their multiple environmental properties⁵.