AUTHOR=Llambí Luis D. , Melfo Alejandra , Gámez Luis E. , Pelayo Roxibell C. , Cárdenas Mariana , Rojas Cherry , Torres Jesús E. , Ramírez Nerio , Huber Bárbara , Hernández Jesús TITLE=Vegetation Assembly, Adaptive Strategies and Positive Interactions During Primary Succession in the Forefield of the Last Venezuelan Glacier JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.657755 DOI=10.3389/fevo.2021.657755 ISSN=2296-701X ABSTRACT=
Glaciers are receding at unprecedented rates in the alpine tropics, opening-up new areas for ecosystem assembly. However, little is known about the patterns/mechanisms of primary succession during the last stages of glacier retreat in tropical mountains. Our aim was to analyze soil development and vegetation assembly during primary succession, and the role of changing adaptive strategies and facilitative interactions on these processes at the forefront of the last Venezuelan glacier (Humboldt Peak, 4,940 m asl). We established a chronosequence of four sites where the glacier retreated between 1910 and 2009. We compared soil organic matter (SOM), nutrients and temperatures inside vs. outside biological soil crusts (BSCs) at each site, estimated the cover of lichen, bryophyte and vascular plant species present, and analyzed changes in their growth-form abundance and species/functional turnover. We also evaluated local spatial associations between lichens/bryophytes and the dominant ruderal vascular plant (the grass