**12. References**

168 International Perspectives on Global Environmental Change

Although we are beginning to understand several trends and mechanisms in the primary succession of glacier forelands, more field studies with a high taxonomic resolution, and from different geographical areas, are needed. It is a special challenge to explain the ecological mechanisms working in pioneer communities on barren ground. What is the importance of pioneer microflora as food for pioneer microarthropods, and how important are resident microarthropods as food for pioneer beetles and spiders? Gut content analyses based on DNA primers of potential prey items would be highly welcome. And how

Another improvement would be to add more quantitative samplings methods. Pitfall trapping favours fast-moving surface species (Fig. 14). Species with low densities may give considerable catches if they are very active, while species with higher densities may be lacking in the pitfall traps if they are rather immobile (for instance web-building spiders or

Long-term monitoring of selected plots can illustrate effects of changed climate on succession. Plots which are already well studied should be re-studied at intervals. A better understanding of primary succession makes it easier to forecast what future ecosystems may be like in areas freed from ice. It can also increase our general insight into ecology,

Due to global warming, glaciers are receding in many parts of the world, leaving considerable areas of barren ground. While the botanical succession in such glacier forelands have been well studied, the parallel zoological succession is less described and understood. Glacier forelands illustrate nature's ability to recover from severe disturbance, and it is of considerable ecological interest to understand the succession process. Succession

This chapter summarizes and compares zoological studies in glacier forelands within three main areas in Europa: Svalbard, south Norway, and the Alps. A common technique is to study sites with known age in different distances from the ice. The sequence of dated study plots is called a chronosequence, and the various plots act as a substitute for following the same plot over time. Not surprisingly, time, distance and vegetation cover use to be highly

Several invertebrates are present before any vegetation is visible. Typical representatives are springtails (Collembola), mites (Acari), beetles (Coleoptera), spiders (Araneae), and harvestmen (Opiliones). The actual species are surface active animals, but they find shelter in the crevices among stones, gravel and sand grains. Springtails and mites are saprophagous, while species from the other groups are mainly predators. It has been called an ecological paradox that predators preceed both plant-eaters and plants. However, the pioneer ground receives airborne insects (mainly Diptera), on which the predators can feed. This fertilizes the ground and contributes to the gradual establishment of plants. However, chlorophyll-based food chains may start surprisingly early, for instance based on pioneer

In the Alps, most arthropod species colonise during a period of 40-50 years, while the colonisation is slower in Norway. High Arctic forelands on Svalbard have a poor fauna, but

**10. Future research** 

moss-eating beetles).

**11. Conclusion** 

correlated factors in a glacier foreland.

mosses on which certain springtails and beetles can feed.

important are pioneer mosses as a driver in succession?

maybe by removing the "predator first-paradox" as a paradox.

studies also help us to predict future ecosystems in deglaciated terrain.


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**10** 

Takashi Osono

*Japan* 

**Excess Supply of Nutrients,** 

**Plant Litter Decomposition:** 

*Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University* 

**A Case Study of Avian-Derived** 

**Excreta Deposition in Conifer Plantations<sup>1</sup>**

Human activities have greatly accelerated emissions of both carbon dioxide and biologically reactive nutrients such as nitrogen (N) to the atmosphere (Canfield et al., 2010), which cause environmental changes affecting ecosystem processes and biodiversity in forests. Excess supply of N of anthropogenic origin to forest soils, such as combustion of fossil fuels, production of N fertilizers, and cultivation of N-fixing legumes, is an example of such environmental changes often leading to a decrease of the rate of carbon dioxide evolution and decomposition (Fog, 1988; Berg and Matzner, 1997) and a concomitant increase in the amount of soil carbon stock (deVries et al., 2006; Zak et al., 2008). These changes are primarily attributable to the reduced activity of fungal ligninolytic enzymes that play crucial roles in the turnover of soil organic carbon and are known to be sensitive to N deposition (Sinsabaugh, 2010). However, such changes in the enzymatic activity are not consistently associated with changes in the abundance and diversity of fungi that are responsible for the activity (Waldrop and Zak, 2006; Blackwood et al., 2007; Hassett et al., 2009). This discrepancy merits further studies to examine the response of ecological and functional properties of fungal communities to excess supply of N and its consequences on the

The transfer of nutrients by waterbirds from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems provides similar situations to the anthropogenic supply of nutrients because birds feed on fish in the aquatic zone and deposit their waste rich in nutrients to the terrestrial parts of their habitats. Such allochthonous input of N and other nutrients to terrestrial ecosystems can lead locally to substantial enrichment of soils and plants and alter food webs, nutrient cycling, and

1This manuscript should be cited as follows: Osono, T. (2011). Excess supply of nutrients, fungal community, and plant litter decomposition: a case study of avian-derived excreta deposition in conifer plantations, In: *Environmental Change*, S.S. Young and S.E. Silvern, (Ed.), 000-000, InTech, ISBN979-953-

**1. Introduction** 

307-109-0, Rijeka, Croatia

**1.1 Excess supply of nutrients and terrestrial ecosystems** 

dynamics of carbon and N in forest soils.

**Fungal Community, and** 

