Crosta Arianna, Valle Barbara, Caccianiga Marco, Gobbi Mauro, Ficetola Francesco Gentile, Pittino Francesca, Franzetti Andrea, Azzoni Roberto Sergio, Lencioni Valeria, Senese Antonella, Corlatti Luca, Buda Jakub, Poniecka Ewa, Novotná Jaroměřská Tereza, Zawierucha Krzysztof, Ambrosini Roberto
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, via Celoria 26, Milan, 20133, Italy.
Department of Life Sciences, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via A. Moro 2, Siena, 53100, Italy.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2025 Feb;100(1):227-244. doi: 10.1111/brv.13138. Epub 2024 Sep 9.
Glaciers host a variety of cold-adapted taxa, many of which have not yet been described. Interactions among glacier organisms are even less clear. Understanding ecological interactions is crucial to unravelling the functioning of glacier ecosystems, particularly in light of current glacier retreat. Through a review of the existing literature, we aim to provide a first overview of the biodiversity, primary production, trophic networks, and matter flow of a glacier ecosystem. We use the Forni Glacier (Central Italian Alps) - one of the best studied alpine glaciers in the world - as a model system for our literature review and integrate additional original data. We reveal the importance of allochthonous organic matter inputs, of Cyanobacteria and eukaryotic green algae in primary production, and the key role of springtails (Vertagopus glacialis) on the glacier surface in sustaining populations of two apex terrestrial predators: Nebria castanea (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and Pardosa saturatior (Araneae: Lycosidae). The cryophilic tardigrade Cryobiotus klebelsbergi is the apex consumer in cryoconite holes. This short food web highlights the fragility of nodes represented by invertebrates, contrasting with structured microbial communities in all glacier habitats. Although further research is necessary to quantify the ecological interactions of glacier organisms, this review summarises and integrates existing knowledge about the ecological processes on alpine glaciers and supports the importance of glacier-adapted organisms in providing ecosystem services.
冰川中存在着各种各样适应寒冷环境的生物分类群，其中许多尚未被描述。冰川生物之间的相互作用则更不清楚。了解生态相互作用对于阐明冰川生态系统的功能至关重要，尤其是鉴于当前冰川正在退缩。通过对现有文献的综述，我们旨在首次概述冰川生态系统的生物多样性、初级生产、营养网络和物质流动。我们将世界上研究最充分的高山冰川之一——福尔尼冰川（意大利中部阿尔卑斯山）作为文献综述的模型系统，并整合了额外的原始数据。我们揭示了外来有机物质输入、蓝细菌和真核绿藻在初级生产中的重要性，以及跳虫（冰川维塔跳虫）在冰川表面对两种顶级陆地捕食者种群的维持所起的关键作用，这两种捕食者分别是栗色步甲（鞘翅目：步甲科）和饱和豹蛛（蜘蛛目：狼蛛科）。嗜冷缓步动物克莱贝尔斯伯格氏隐生缓步虫是冰尘穴中的顶级消费者。这个简短的食物网突出了以无脊椎动物为代表的节点的脆弱性，这与所有冰川栖息地中结构化的微生物群落形成对比。尽管需要进一步研究来量化冰川生物的生态相互作用，但本综述总结并整合了关于高山冰川生态过程的现有知识，并支持了适应冰川环境的生物在提供生态系统服务方面的重要性。
