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**9** 

**Primary Succession in Glacier Forelands:** 

An easily observed effect of global warming is the gradual melting of glaciers in different parts of the world. Large areas of barren, pristine ground are left open for colonisation of various life forms (Fig. 1). From an ecological point of view, glacier forelands are interesting because they illustrate nature's ability to recover from severe disturbance. Since the successive development of communities starts without previous life forms, it is a primary succession. In contrast, a secondary succession starts with a species assemblage already present, for instance on a forest patch after clear-cutting. While the botanical succession in glacier forelands has been well studied, the parallel zoological succession is less described and understood. Which animal species are pioneers, what properties make them pioneers, how fast does species number increase, and how do plants and animals interact during succession? An ecological understanding of primary succession is not only of scientific interest, but also helps us to predict future ecosystems in areas freed from the

In some glacier forelands, glaciologists have followed the varying position of the ice edge during long time, sometimes supported by old photographs. The age of certain characteristic moraines can, for instance, be well dated, and the age of sites between may be estimated. Several European glaciers had a maximum size at the end of the "Little Ice Age", which in Norway ended around A.D. 1750 with well-marked moraines. Forelands with dated sites up to 250 years age represent unique ecological laboratories for understanding

Ideally, a primary succession should be studied by following the gradual changes in flora and fauna in a fixed site over long time, from being newly freed from the ice cover, to having achieved a stable community structure. This is rarely possible, and the usual way is to substitute time with space, using plots with known age to estimate the future biological status of newly exposed land. The sequence of dated study plots in the foreland, illuding the

**2. Glacier forelands: Nature's ecological laboratory** 

succession on a given site over time, is called a chronosequence.

nature's ability to conquer new land.

**1. Introduction** 

ice cover.

**How Small Animals Conquer New Land** 

**Around Melting Glaciers**

*Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Aas,* 

*Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management,* 

Sigmund Hågvar

*Norway* 
