Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are among the early colonisers of recently deglaciated terrains. While patterns of carabid colonisation along forelands of retreating glaciers have been thoroughly investigated in temperate climates, information remains scarce in tropical mountains. This study aimed to describe for the first time the carabid beetle species assemblages along the chronosequence of two tropical Andean glaciers (Antisana and Carihuairazo, Ecuador). Shannon index, taxonomic distinctness and species assemblage composition did not reveal deterministic and directional patterns. Only the principal coordinate analysis performed on the Antisana dataset showed that some species had a clear preference for terrains deglaciated for more than 200 years. Our results showed that equatorial glacier forelands are colonised by pioneer species that persist from the recently deglaciated terrains (less than 25 years) to terrains deglaciated since more than 200 years. This pattern fits the ‘addition and persistence model’ of high-latitude glacier forelands, rather than the ‘species replacement model’ of the Alps. The pioneer species observed are high-altitude specialists adapted to constantly cold environments, but not specifically ice-related. In the current context of climate warming, pioneer and cold-adapted species living near the glaciers of equatorial mountains are therefore only threatened by the ‘summit trap’ risk, unlike in temperate regions, as they are not strictly linked to the glacier microclimate.

中文翻译：

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当冰消逝时：地面甲虫在赤道冰川前殖民（鞘翅目：甲鱼科）

地上的甲虫（鞘翅目：甲壳纲）是最近冰冻地形的早期定居者。尽管已经在温带气候下彻底研究了退缩冰川前陆上的无节菌定殖模式，但热带山区的信息仍然很少。这项研究旨在首次描述沿两个热带安第斯山脉冰川（厄瓜多尔安蒂萨纳和卡里瓦伊拉佐）的时序排列的甲壳虫物种组合。香农指数，分类学上的区别和物种集合组成没有揭示确定性和方向性模式。只有在Antisana数据集上进行的主坐标分析表明，某些物种对冰川消融200多年有明显的偏好。我们的结果表明，赤道冰川前陆被先驱物种殖民，这些先驱物种从最近的冰期地形（不到25年）一直延续到200多年来的冰期地形。这种模式适合于高纬度冰川前陆的“增加和持久性模型”，而不是阿尔卑斯山的“物种替代模型”。观察到的先驱物种是适应不断寒冷环境的高海拔专家，但并非专门与冰有关。因此，在当前气候变暖的背景下，与温带地区不同，生活在赤道山脉冰川附近的先驱物种和适应寒冷的物种仅受到“集水陷阱”风险的威胁，因为它们与冰川微气候没有严格联系。