Abstract

Glacier forefields are ideal to study the role of microorganisms in the early stages of ecosystem development, as deglaciation leads to exposure of bare rock which is rapidly colonized by microorganisms involved in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. It is known that glacier forefields harbour a great structural and functional microbial diversity. Such communities are adapted to the extreme conditions of the sites (eg. nutrient limitation, climatic variations). Their relationships with the surrounding physical and chemical environment must however still be elucidated. In our study, we first compared (T-RFLP profiling of the 16S rRNA gene) bacterial community structure of geologically different glacier forefields. Subsequently, we defined the changes of microbial community structure and activity and different seasons at a reference site. We focus particularly on the assessment of community stability to changing environmental parameters.