Vegetation Succession Patterns at Sperry Glacier’s Foreland, Glacier National Park, MT, USA

Ami Bryant, Lynn M. Resler (), Dianna Gielstra and Thomas Pingel
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Ami Bryant: Department of Geography, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Lynn M. Resler: Department of Geography, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Dianna Gielstra: College of General Studies, University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ 85040, USA
Thomas Pingel: Department of Geography, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, USA

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: Plant colonization patterns on deglaciated terrain give insight into the factors influencing alpine ecosystem development. Our objectives were to use a chronosequence, extending from the Little Ice Age (~1850) terminal moraine to the present glacier terminus, and biophysical predictors to characterize vegetation across Sperry Glacier’s foreland—a mid-latitude cirque glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. We measured diversity metrics (i.e., richness, evenness, and Shannon’s diversity index), percent cover, and community composition in 61 plots. Field observations characterized drainage, concavity, landform features, rock fragments, and geomorphic process domains in each plot. GIS-derived variables contextualized the plots’ aspect, terrain roughness, topographic position, solar radiation, and curvature. Overall, vegetation cover and species richness increased with terrain age, but with colonization gaps compared to other forelands, likely due to extensive bedrock and slow soil development, potentially putting this community at risk of being outpaced by climate change. Generalized linear models revealed the importance of local site factors (e.g., drainage, concavity, and process domain) in explaining species richness and Shannon’s diversity patterns. The relevance of field-measured variables over GIS-derived variables demonstrated the importance of fieldwork in understanding alpine successional patterns and the need for higher-resolution remote sensing analyses to expand these landscape-scale studies.

Keywords: glacier forelands; plant succession; deglaciation; biophysical interactions; Glacier National Park; Sperry Glacier (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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