Retreating ice: research in pro‐glacial areas matters

Heckmann, Tobias; McColl, Samuel T.; Morche, David

doi:10.1002/esp.3858

Cited by 78 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Glacial floodplains are highly dynamic environments experiencing continuous morphological change (Heckmann, McColl, & Morche, ; Marren, ). Stream braiding is common in these environments (Maizels, ; Marren, ), and is controlled by both allogenic and autogenic factors (Ashworth & Ferguson, ).…”

Section: Biofilms Ecosystem Engineering and The Ontogeny Of Glacial mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem engineers: Biofilms and the ontogeny of glacier floodplain ecosystems

et al. 2019

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The term “ecosystem engineering” emerged in the 1990s and is commonly used to refer to the activities of larger organisms like beavers and trees in rivers and streams. The focus on larger organisms may be motivated by their more visible effects on the environment. However, while it may be intuitive to suggest that the bigger the organism the bigger its potential engineering effects, there may be microscale organisms who through their number rather than their size can act simultaneously to result in significant impacts. This paper considers biofilms as a candidate ecosystem engineer. It is well known that biofilms play an important role in enriching the sediment matrix of nutrients and in stabilizing sediments. Biofilms may be critical in increasing the habitability of the benthic substratum. In this paper, we consider their potential role in the ontogeny of ecosystems in recently deglaciated terrain. We show how by changing sediment stoichiometry, decreasing sediment erodibility, and reducing surface sediment permeability they may promote primary succession on lateral, incised terraces, which are less perturbed compared with the main active floodplain. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Nature of Freshwater Ecosystems Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change

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Section: Biofilms Ecosystem Engineering and The Ontogeny Of Glacial mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem engineers: Biofilms and the ontogeny of glacier floodplain ecosystems

et al. 2019

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“…Our results confirm the influence of dispersal on primary succession but do so over a time span of centuries. The role of dispersal receives almost no attention in recent reviews (Walker and Wardle 2014;Heckmann et al 2015), but a meta-analysis pointed out that dispersal is likely to be most important in the early stages of primary succession in isolated habitats (Anderson 2007). Our large-scale forelands may serve as an example of this: succession was delayed on large-scale forelands, and the size of this effect was greatest on seres dominated by cryptogamic soil and deciduous vegetation ( fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The driver most often studied is ecosystem development, represented by the accumulation of nutrients and carbon (C) in soils and plants (Schmidt et al 2008;Peltzer et al 2009;Walker and Wardle 2014;Heckmann et al 2015). At high latitudes, ecosystem development also comprises increased soil temperature, decreased wind speeds, and increased duration of snow cover (Cutler et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here succession is characterized by shifts in dominant growth form, from cyanobacteria and bryophytes on recently exposed overburden, to deciduous vascular plants in intermediate seres, to evergreen plants in later seres (Chapin et al 1994;Hodkinson et al 2003;Jones and Henry 2003;Nakatsubo et al 2005;Robbins and Matthews 2009). High latitudes are expected to be especially prone to anthropogenic climate warming, accelerating glacial melt and the exposure of forelands (Heckmann et al 2015). The second sequence occurs in sorted circles (1-5 m diameter; fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New Multicentury Evidence for Dispersal Limitation during Primary Succession

Makoto

Wilson

2016

The American Naturalist

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Online enhancements: appendix. Dryad data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.85j01.abstract: Primary succession is limited by both ecosystem development and plant dispersal, but the extent to which dispersal constrains succession over the long-term is unknown. We compared primary succession along two co-occurring arctic chronosequences with contrasting spatial scales: sorted circles that span a few meters and may have few dispersal constraints and glacial forelands that span several kilometers and may have greater dispersal constraints. Dispersal constraints slowed primary succession by centuries: plots were dominated by cryptogams after 20 years on circles but after 270 years on forelands; plots supported deciduous plants after 100 years on circles but after 1400 years on forelands. Our study provides centuryscale evidence suggesting that dispersal limitations constrain the rate of primary succession in glacial forelands.

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“…; Heckmann et al . ). The newly exposed de‐glaciated landscapes in the vicinity of the glaciers may lead to the formation of unstable lakes (Carrivick & Tweed ).…”

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confidence: 97%

Glacier outburst floods reconstructed from lake sediments and their implications for Holocene variations of the plateau glacier Folgefonna in western Norway

Røthe

Bakke

Støren

2019

Boreas

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A sudden release of large volumes of water during a glacier outburst flood (GLOF) is a major hazard worldwide. Here, we identify the sedimentary signature of glacial and non‐glacial processes, including GLOFs, based on lacustrine sediments from the distal glacier‐fed Lake Buarvatnet in western Norway. Historically documented GLOFs in 2002 CE and during the 1980s CE are identified in the 210Pb‐ and 14C‐dated sediments. These events have the same sedimentary signature as 12 earlier events throughout the Holocene interpreted to represent previous GLOFs in the catchment. The GLOFs are interpreted to have occurred during periods when the glacier extent was similar to the modern positions, and the events are thus used to pinpoint past positions of the glacier terminus and, hence, the equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs). The results indicate that the glacier Svartenutbreen, located at the eastern part of Folgefonna, had a similar size in 2002 CE as c. 8200–8300 cal. a BP, corresponding to the 8.2 ka event in the North Atlantic region. The regrowth of Sørfonna after the Holocene Thermal Optimum occurred at c. 6900 cal. a BP and Svartenutbreen was at modern size and extent in the periods c. 6400, c. 5450, c. 4850, c. 3850, c. 3550 and c. 1650 cal. a BP. Since 1650 cal. a BP, we infer that the glacier was larger than the 2002 CE glacier extent until 1910 CE when a GLOF occurred. Svartenutbreen has been retreating since 1910 CE, which led to the ice damming of the two historical GLOFs in the 1980s and 2002 CE separated by a glacier advance in the 1990s CE. The findings are discussed and compared to other regional glacier reconstructions in Norway, and emphasize the value of identifying and utilizing GLOFs as an indicator of past ELA variability.

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Retreating ice: research in pro‐glacial areas matters

Cited by 78 publications

References 41 publications

Ecosystem engineers: Biofilms and the ontogeny of glacier floodplain ecosystems

Ecosystem engineers: Biofilms and the ontogeny of glacier floodplain ecosystems

New Multicentury Evidence for Dispersal Limitation during Primary Succession

Glacier outburst floods reconstructed from lake sediments and their implications for Holocene variations of the plateau glacier Folgefonna in western Norway

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