The Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Succession in a Glacial Foreland in Southern Iceland: The Effects of Landscape Heterogeneity

Lawrence Tanner (), Genevieve Kikukawa and Kaylyn Weits
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Lawrence Tanner: Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY 13214, USA
Genevieve Kikukawa: Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY 13214, USA
Kaylyn Weits: Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY 13214, USA

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: One of the more visible consequences of anthropogenic climate change is the ongoing retreat of glaciers worldwide. Rates of primary succession in the resulting glacial forelands are commonly calculated from a single measurement set using a single set of measurements across a landscape of varying age, but repeated measurements over decadal scales may be a more effective means of examining the rates and trends of colonization and community development. Repeated measurements of vegetation groups in a glacial foreland in southern Iceland demonstrate that successional changes are measurable, as shown by the calculation of the dissimilarity index at sites over a 15 year interval. Inter-site dissimilarity validates the essential paradigm of primary succession, where vegetative coverage increases in the glacial foreland as a function of time and supports earlier interpretations saying that species richness decreases on older surfaces, even as the total vegetation cover increases. However, successional processes are subject to major abiotic factors, such as aspect, which is controlled by landscape topography, and the substrate composition. The glacial moraines and outwash plain are underlain by different substrates which produce separate successional trajectories. Succession on the moraines ultimately produces a birch-shrub-heath community, while the outwash deposits promote development of a moss-heath community.

Keywords: primary succession; glacial foreland; chronosequence; moraine; outwash plain; functional group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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