The Influence of Biological Soil Crusts on Soil Characteristics along a High Arctic Glacier Foreland, Nunavut, Canada

Breen, Katie; Lévesque, Esther

doi:10.1657/1523-0430(06-098)[breen]2.0.co;2

Cited by 78 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Other exceptions to this universal trend have recently been reported (Breen and Lévesque, 2008;Strauss et al, 2009), revealing the variability among different glacier forefields. Soil pH decrease with age in a glacial forefield is an expected characteristic observed in forefields where soils reach a relatively mature structure and where vegetation is increasingly present with soil age affecting the pH.…”

Section: Soil Developmentmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The subjective selection of discrete points for analyzing chronosequences may, in some cases, be considered insufficient for specific measurements due to spatial bias. To minimize potential biases, the studies by Breen and Lévesque (2008) and Strauss et al (2009) used sampling approaches with several replicates at different study sites. For more detailed studies of soil variables and their changes along chronosequences it would be recommendable to establish transects where several samples with similar age and distance from the glacier front could be collected, thereby minimizing the risk of spatial bias.…”

Section: Comparison Of the Methanotrophic Diversity Between The Lia Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial Patterns of Soil Development, Methane Oxidation, and Methanotrophic Diversity along a Receding Glacier Forefield, Southeast Greenland

Bárcena

Finster

Yde

2011

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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Section: Soil Developmentmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Comparison Of the Methanotrophic Diversity Between The Lia Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Patterns of Soil Development, Methane Oxidation, and Methanotrophic Diversity along a Receding Glacier Forefield, Southeast Greenland

Bárcena

Finster

Yde

2011

Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research

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“…The rough surface structure and the dark colour of BSCs create beneficial conditions for seedling settlement and germination, because they are sheltered against external disturbances and the temperature is higher compared to bare surrounding soils (Escudero et al, 2007;Breen and Lévesque, 2008;Gold, 1998). Moreover, the stress for pioneering plants is generally reduced -on the one hand because of the already mentioned nutrient conditions, and on the other hand because of the volumetric water content being higher in BSCs (Breen and Lévesque, 2008). Altogether, BSCs are able to buffer the diurnal changes in climatic conditions at glacier forefields and therefore reduce stress conditions, which otherwise might hamper the plant development.…”

Section: S Schulz Et Al: the Role Of Microorganisms In Ecosystem Dementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of microorganisms at different stages of ecosystem development for soil formation

et al. 2013

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Soil formation is the result of a complex network of biological as well as chemical and physical processes. The role of soil microbes is of high interest, since they are responsible for most biological transformations and drive the development of stable and labile pools of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and other nutrients, which facilitate the subsequent establishment of plant communities. Forefields of receding glaciers provide unique chronosequences of different soil development stages and are ideal ecosystems to study the interaction of bacteria, fungi and archaea with their abiotic environment. In this review we give insights into the role of microbes for soil development. The results presented are based on studies performed within the Collaborative Research Program DFG SFB/TRR 38 (http://www.tu-cottbus.de/ecosystem ) and are supplemented by data from other studies. The review focusses on the microbiology of major steps of soil formation. Special attention is given to the development of nutrient cycles on the formation of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and on the establishment of plant–microbe interactions

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“…1B). Within the trimline, the vegetation includes both a chronosequence of recolonizing plants and exhumed, intact assemblages of vascular plants and bryophytes (4)(5)(6). The subfossil bryophyte assemblages are in pristine condition, resulting from prior entombment by a nonerosive, cold-based glacier margin, common at high latitudes (7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Regeneration of Little Ice Age bryophytes emerging from a polar glacier with implications of totipotency in extreme environments

Farge

Williams

England

2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

107

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Across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, widespread ice retreat during the 20th century has sharply accelerated since 2004. In Sverdrup Pass, central Ellesmere Island, rapid glacier retreat is exposing intact plant communities whose radiocarbon dates demonstrate entombment during the Little Ice Age (1550–1850 AD). The exhumed bryophyte assemblages have exceptional structural integrity (i.e., setae, stem structures, leaf hair points) and have remarkable species richness (60 of 144 extant taxa in Sverdrup Pass). Although the populations are often discolored (blackened), some have developed green stem apices or lateral branches suggesting in vivo regrowth. To test their biological viability, Little Ice Age populations emerging from the ice margin were collected for in vitro growth experiments. Our results include a unique successful regeneration of subglacial bryophytes following 400 y of ice entombment. This finding demonstrates the totipotent capacity of bryophytes, the ability of a cell to dedifferentiate into a meristematic state (analogous to stem cells) and develop a new plant. In polar ecosystems, regrowth of bryophyte tissue buried by ice for 400 y significantly expands our understanding of their role in recolonization of polar landscapes (past or present). Regeneration of subglacial bryophytes broadens the concept of Ice Age refugia, traditionally confined to survival of land plants to sites above and beyond glacier margins. Our results emphasize the unrecognized resilience of bryophytes, which are commonly overlooked vis-a-vis their contribution to the establishment, colonization, and maintenance of polar terrestrial ecosystems.

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The Influence of Biological Soil Crusts on Soil Characteristics along a High Arctic Glacier Foreland, Nunavut, Canada

Cited by 78 publications

References 50 publications

Spatial Patterns of Soil Development, Methane Oxidation, and Methanotrophic Diversity along a Receding Glacier Forefield, Southeast Greenland

Spatial Patterns of Soil Development, Methane Oxidation, and Methanotrophic Diversity along a Receding Glacier Forefield, Southeast Greenland

The role of microorganisms at different stages of ecosystem development for soil formation

Regeneration of Little Ice Age bryophytes emerging from a polar glacier with implications of totipotency in extreme environments

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