On Ladakh’s glacier forefields, microbial succession was organized first by who the microbes lived with
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Across four glacier forefields, researchers combined chronosequences, vegetation surveys, soil chemistry, topography and bacterial/fungal sequencing. Microbial source identity—lichens, biological soil crusts, mosses, vascular plants or bulk soil—was the primary organizer of diversity and composition. Structural-equation modeling indicated that successional age also acted indirectly through source colonization and soil development.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Primary succession is not a single clock. The organisms that establish on new substrate create distinct microbial habitats, so biotic assembly and geomorphic age are intertwined rather than interchangeable explanations.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
This is a chronosequence across four glacier forefields, not continuous observation of the same sites through time. Network and structural-equation analyses infer organization and association rather than direct interaction or causal succession pathways.
SOURCE
FEMS Microbiology Ecology
View original evidence ↗
Across four forefields, host or source identity explained microbial diversity and composition more strongly than moraine age alone, while succession acted indirectly through colonization and soil development.
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