Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions
Abstract Glacier forelands are among the most rapidly changing landscapes on Earth. Stable ground is rare as geomorphic processes move sediments across large areas of glacier forelands for decades to centuries following glacier retreat. Yet, most ecological studies sample exclusively on stable terra...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | Ecosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4404 |
| _version_ | 1797894418408144896 |
|---|---|
| author | Jana Eichel Daniel Draebing Stefan Winkler Nele Meyer |
| author_facet | Jana Eichel Daniel Draebing Stefan Winkler Nele Meyer |
| author_sort | Jana Eichel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Glacier forelands are among the most rapidly changing landscapes on Earth. Stable ground is rare as geomorphic processes move sediments across large areas of glacier forelands for decades to centuries following glacier retreat. Yet, most ecological studies sample exclusively on stable terrain to fulfill chronosequence criteria, thus missing potential feedbacks between geomorphic disturbances and vegetation colonization. By influencing vegetation and soil development, such vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks could be crucial to understand glacier foreland ecosystem development in a changing climate. We surveyed vegetation and environmental properties, including geomorphic disturbance intensities, in 105 plots located on both stable and unstable moraine terrain in two geomorphologically active glacier forelands in New Zealand and Switzerland. Our plot data showed that geomorphic disturbance intensities permanently changed from high/moderate to low/stable when vegetation reached cover values of around 40%. Around this cover value, species with response and effect traits adapted to geomorphic disturbances dominated. This suggests that such species can act as “biogeomorphic” ecosystem engineers that stabilize ground through positive feedback loops. Across floristic regions, biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer traits creating ground stabilization, such as mat growth and association with mycorrhiza, are remarkably similar. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed a linked sequence of decreasing geomorphic disturbance intensities and changing species composition from pioneer to late successional species. We interpret this linked geomorphic disturbance‐vegetation succession sequence as “biogeomorphic succession,” a common successional pathway in unstable river and coastal ecosystems across the world. Soil and vegetation development were related to this sequence and only advanced once biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer species covered 40%–45% of a plot, indicating a crucial role of biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer stabilization. Different topoclimatic conditions could explain variance in biogeomorphic succession timescales and ecosystem engineer root traits between the glacier forelands. As glacier foreland ground is widely unstable, we propose to consider glacier forelands as “biogeomorphic ecosystems” in which ecosystem structure and function are shaped by geomorphic disturbances and their feedbacks with adapted plant species, similar to rivers and coasts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:09:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b9c9afa0ee3f4778ae23f03fb5ded8cf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:09:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-b9c9afa0ee3f4778ae23f03fb5ded8cf2023-02-27T00:40:39ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252023-02-01142n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.4404Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regionsJana Eichel0Daniel Draebing1Stefan Winkler2Nele Meyer3Department of Physical Geography Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsDepartment of Physical Geography Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsDepartment of Geography and Geology University of Würzburg Würzburg GermanyDepartment of Soil Ecology University of Bayreuth Bayreuth GermanyAbstract Glacier forelands are among the most rapidly changing landscapes on Earth. Stable ground is rare as geomorphic processes move sediments across large areas of glacier forelands for decades to centuries following glacier retreat. Yet, most ecological studies sample exclusively on stable terrain to fulfill chronosequence criteria, thus missing potential feedbacks between geomorphic disturbances and vegetation colonization. By influencing vegetation and soil development, such vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks could be crucial to understand glacier foreland ecosystem development in a changing climate. We surveyed vegetation and environmental properties, including geomorphic disturbance intensities, in 105 plots located on both stable and unstable moraine terrain in two geomorphologically active glacier forelands in New Zealand and Switzerland. Our plot data showed that geomorphic disturbance intensities permanently changed from high/moderate to low/stable when vegetation reached cover values of around 40%. Around this cover value, species with response and effect traits adapted to geomorphic disturbances dominated. This suggests that such species can act as “biogeomorphic” ecosystem engineers that stabilize ground through positive feedback loops. Across floristic regions, biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer traits creating ground stabilization, such as mat growth and association with mycorrhiza, are remarkably similar. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling revealed a linked sequence of decreasing geomorphic disturbance intensities and changing species composition from pioneer to late successional species. We interpret this linked geomorphic disturbance‐vegetation succession sequence as “biogeomorphic succession,” a common successional pathway in unstable river and coastal ecosystems across the world. Soil and vegetation development were related to this sequence and only advanced once biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer species covered 40%–45% of a plot, indicating a crucial role of biogeomorphic ecosystem engineer stabilization. Different topoclimatic conditions could explain variance in biogeomorphic succession timescales and ecosystem engineer root traits between the glacier forelands. As glacier foreland ground is widely unstable, we propose to consider glacier forelands as “biogeomorphic ecosystems” in which ecosystem structure and function are shaped by geomorphic disturbances and their feedbacks with adapted plant species, similar to rivers and coasts.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4404biogeomorphic ecosystembiogeomorphic successionbiogeomorphologychronosequencecritical zoneecogeomorphology |
| spellingShingle | Jana Eichel Daniel Draebing Stefan Winkler Nele Meyer Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions Ecosphere biogeomorphic ecosystem biogeomorphic succession biogeomorphology chronosequence critical zone ecogeomorphology |
| title | Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| title_full | Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| title_fullStr | Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| title_short | Similar vegetation‐geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| title_sort | similar vegetation geomorphic disturbance feedbacks shape unstable glacier forelands across mountain regions |
| topic | biogeomorphic ecosystem biogeomorphic succession biogeomorphology chronosequence critical zone ecogeomorphology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4404 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT janaeichel similarvegetationgeomorphicdisturbancefeedbacksshapeunstableglacierforelandsacrossmountainregions AT danieldraebing similarvegetationgeomorphicdisturbancefeedbacksshapeunstableglacierforelandsacrossmountainregions AT stefanwinkler similarvegetationgeomorphicdisturbancefeedbacksshapeunstableglacierforelandsacrossmountainregions AT nelemeyer similarvegetationgeomorphicdisturbancefeedbacksshapeunstableglacierforelandsacrossmountainregions |