Primary succession and its driving variables - a sphere-spanning approachapplied in proglacial areas in the upper Martell Valley (Eastern ItalianAlps)

Climate change and the associated glacier retreat lead to considerable enlargement and alterations of the proglacial systems. The colonisation of plants in this ecosystem was found to be highly dependent on terrain age, initial site conditions and geomorphic disturbances. Although the explanatory variables are generally well understood, there is little knowledge on their collinearities and resulting influence on proglacial primary succession. To develop a sphere-spanning understanding of vegetation development, a more interdisciplinary approach was adopted. In the proglacial areas of Furkeleferner, Zufallferner and Langenferner (Martell Valley, Eastern Italian Alps), in total 65 plots of 5x2 m were installed to perform the vegetation analysis on vegetation cover, species number and species composition. For each of those, 39 potential explanatory variables were collected, selected through an extensive literature review. To analyse and further avoid multicollinearities, 33 of the explanatory variables were clustered via principal component analysis (PCA) to five components. Subsequently, generalised additive models (GAMs) were used to analyse the potential explanatory factors of primary succession. The results showed that primary succession patterns were highly related to the first component (elevation and time), the second component (solar radiation), the third component (soil chemistry), the fifth component (soil physics) and landforms. In summary, the analysis of all explanatory variables together provides an overview of the most important influencing variables and their interactions; thus it provides a basis for the debate on future vegetation development in a changing climate.

Automated summary

Climate change and glacier retreat have significant impacts on proglacial systems and plant colonization in these ecosystems. This study investigated the influence of various factors on primary succession of vegetation in proglacial areas of the Italian Alps. By analyzing multiple explanatory variables, such as elevation, solar radiation, soil chemistry, soil physics, and landforms, the study found that these factors played a crucial role in primary succession patterns. The results provide a basis for understanding future vegetation development in a changing climate.