| Abstract | Glaciers are retreating globally, and the resulting ice-free areas provide an experimental system for understanding species colonization patterns, community formation, and dynamics. The last several years have seen crucial advances in our understanding of biotic colonization after glacier retreats, resulting from the integration of methodological innovations and ecological theories. Recent empirical studies have demonstrated how multiple factors can speed up or slow down the velocity of colonization and have helped scientists develop theoretical models that describe spatiotemporal changes in community structure. There is a growing awareness of how different processes (e.g., time since glacier retreat, onset or interruption of surface processes, abiotic factors, dispersal, biotic interactions) interact to shape community formation and, ultimately, their functional structure through succession. Here, we examine how these studies address key theoretical questions about community dynamics and show how classical approaches are increasingly being combined with environmental DNA metabarcoding and functional trait analysis to document the formation of multitrophic communities, revolutionizing our understanding of the biotic processes that occur following glacier retreat. |
| Text | 456628 2021 10.1146/annurev ecolsys 010521 040017 glacier Dynamics of ecological communities following current retreat of glaciers Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Silvio Marta, Alessia Guerrieri, Mauro Gobbi, Roberto Ambrosini, Diego Fontaneto, Andrea Zerboni, Jerome Poulenard, Marco Caccianiga, and Wilfried Thuiller Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Universita degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy; email francesco.ficetola@gmail.com Universite Grenoble Alpes, Universite Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS, LECA, Laboratoire d Ecologie Alpine, F 38000, Grenoble, France Section of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, MuSe Science Museum, 38122 Trento, Italy Molecular Ecology Group, Water Research Institute IRSA , Italian National Research Council CNR , 28922 Verbania Pallanza, Italy Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra A. Desio, Universita degli Studi di Milano, I 20133 Milano, Italy Laboratory of Environments, Dynamics, and Mountain Territories EDYTEM , Universite Savoie Mont Blanc, Universite Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, F 73000 Chambery, France Department of Biosciences, Universita degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy Glaciers are retreating globally, and the resulting ice free areas provide an experimental system for understanding species colonization patterns, community formation, and dynamics. The last several years have seen crucial advances in our understanding of biotic colonization after glacier retreats, resulting from the integration of methodological innovations and ecological theories. Recent empirical studies have demonstrated how multiple factors can speed up or slow down the velocity of colonization and have helped scientists develop theoretical models that describe spatiotemporal changes in community structure. There is a growing awareness of how different processes e.g., time since glacier retreat, onset or interruption of surface processes, abiotic factors, dispersal, biotic interactions interact to shape community formation and, ultimately, their functional structure through succession. Here, we examine how these studies address key theoretical questions about community dynamics and show how classical approaches are increasingly being combined with environmental DNA metabarcoding and functional trait analysis to document the formation of multitrophic communities, revolutionizing our understanding of the biotic processes that occur following glacier retreat. 52 Published version https //www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev ecolsys 010521 040017 ficetolaAREES ficetolaAREESaccepted.pdf Articolo in rivista Annual Reviews, Inc., 1543 592X Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics. diego.fontaneto FONTANETO DIEGO IceCommunities Reconstructing community dynamics and ecosystem functioning after glacial retreat |
