title: New Multicentury Evidence for Dispersal Limitation during Primary Succession.
abstract: Primary succession is limited by both ecosystem development and plant dispersal, but the extent to which dispersal constrains succession over the long-term is unknown. We compared primary succession along two co-occurring arctic chronosequences with contrasting spatial scales: sorted circles that span a few meters and may have few dispersal constraints and glacial forelands that span several kilometers and may have greater dispersal constraints. Dispersal constraints slowed primary succession by centuries: plots were dominated by cryptogams after 20 years on circles but after 270 years on forelands; plots supported deciduous plants after 100 years on circles but after >400 years on forelands. Our study provides century-scale evidence suggesting that dispersal limitations constrain the rate of primary succession in glacial forelands.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makoto
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D017753:Ecosystem; D046448:Ice Cover; D063148:Plant Dispersal; D010944:Plants; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: arctic; biomass; ecosystem development; foreland; glacier; growth form; soil C; sorted circle