Retreating glaciers, icons of climate change, release new potential habitats for both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. High-elevation species are threatened by temperature increases and the upward migration of lowlands species. Improving our understanding of successional processes after glacier retreat becomes urgent, especially in the tropics, where glacier shrinkage is particularly fast. We examined the successional patterns of aquatic invertebrates, ground beetles, terrestrial plants, soil eukaryotes (algae, invertebrates, plants) in an equatorial glacier foreland (Carihuairazo, Ecuador). Based on both taxonomical identification and eDNA metabarcoding, we analysed the effects of both environmental conditions and age of deglacierization on community composition. Except for algae, diversity increased with time since deglacierization, especially among passive dispersers, suggesting that dispersal was a key driver structuring the glacier foreland succession. Spatial β-diversity was mainly attributed to nestedness for aquatic invertebrates, terrestrial plants and soil algae, likely linked to low environmental variability within the studied glacier foreland; and to turnover for soil invertebrates, suggesting competition exclusion at the oldest successional stage. Pioneer communities were dominated by species exhibiting flexible feeding strategies and high dispersal ability (mainly transported by wind), probably colonising from lower altitudes, or from the glacier in the case of algae. Overall, glacier foreland colonisation in the tropics exhibit common characteristics to higher latitudes. High-elevation species are nevertheless threatened, as the imminent extinction of many tropical glaciers will affect species associated to glacier-influenced habitats but also prevent cold-adapted and hygrophilous species from using these habitats as refuges in a warming world.

中文翻译：

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沿着消失的赤道冰川前陆的多分类群定植

作为气候变化标志的冰川消退，为水生和陆生生物提供了新的潜在栖息地。高海拔物种受到温度升高和低地物种向上迁移的威胁。提高我们对冰川退缩后的演替过程的理解变得紧迫，特别是在冰川收缩特别快的热带地区。我们研究了赤道​​冰川前陆（厄瓜多尔卡里怀拉索）中水生无脊椎动物、地面甲虫、陆生植物、土壤真核生物（藻类、无脊椎动物、植物）的演替模式。基于分类学鉴定和 eDNA 元条形码，我们分析了环境条件和冰川消融年龄对群落组成的影响。除藻类外，自冰川消退以来，多样性随时间增加，特别是在被动扩散者中，表明扩散是构建冰川前陆演替的关键驱动因素。空间 β 多样性主要归因于水生无脊椎动物、陆生植物和土壤藻类的嵌套，这可能与所研究的冰川前陆内的低环境变异性有关；和土壤无脊椎动物的周转，表明在最古老的演替阶段存在竞争排斥。先锋群落主要由表现出灵活摄食策略和高传播能力（主要由风传播）的物种主导，可能从低海拔或在藻类的情况下从冰川定居。总体而言，热带冰川前陆的殖民化表现出高纬度地区的共同特征。高海拔物种仍然受到威胁，