Vegetation succession in deglaciated landscapes: Implications for sediment and landscape stability

• Published in: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
• Main Authors: Klaar, Megan J., Kidd, Chris, Malone, Edward T., Bartlett, Rebecca, Pinay, Gilles, Chapin, F. Stuart, Milner, Alexandre
• Other Authors: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Birmingham, University of Birmingham Birmingham, Earth Science System Interdisciplinary Center College Park (ESSIC), College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences College Park, University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System-University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland System-University of Maryland System, Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Université de Rennes 1 (UR1), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UNIV-RENNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), NE/G016917/1, Natural Environment Research Council
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: paraglacial adjustment; Alaska; Glacier Bay; primary succession; biogeomorphology; physical–biological interactions; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; glacier
• Online Access: https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01097961; https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3691

International audience Landscapes exposed by glacial retreat provide an ideal natural laboratory to study the processes involved in transforming a highly disturbed, glacially influenced landscape to a stable, diverse ecosystem which supports numerous species and communities. Large-scale vegetation development and changes in sediment availability, used as a proxy for paraglacial adjustment following rapid deglaciation, were assessed using information from remote sensing. Delineation of broad successional vegetation cover types was undertaken using Landsat satellite imagery (covering a 22 year period) to document the rate and trajectory of terrestrial vegetation development. Use of a space-for-time substitution in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, allowed ‘back-calculation’ of the age and stage of development of six catchments over 206 years. The high accuracy (89.2%) of the remotely sensed information used in monitoring successional change allowed detection of a high rate of change in vegetation classes in early successional stages (bare sediment and alder). In contrast, later successional stages (spruce and spruce–hemlock dominated forest) had high vegetation class retention, and low turnover. Modelled rates of vegetation change generally confirmed the estimated rates of successional turnover previously reported. These data, when combined with the known influence of terrestrial succession on soil development and sediment availability, suggest how physical and biological processes interact over time to influence paraglacial adjustment following deglaciation. This study highlights the application of remote sensing of successional chronosequence landscapes to assess the temporal dynamics of paraglacial adjustment following rapid deglaciation and shows the importance of incorporating bio-physical interactions within landscape evolution models.