Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31616581›Full record

ArticlePeerJ2019

Evidence for a non-linear carbon accumulation pattern along an Alpine glacier retreat chronosequence in Northern Italy.

Leonardo Montagnani, Aysan Badraghi, Andrew Francis Speak, Camilla Wellstein, Luigimaria Borruso, Stefan Zerbe, Damiano Zanotelli

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PeerJ, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Leonardo MontagnaniFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-2957-9071
Aysan BadraghiFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.
Andrew Francis SpeakFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.
Camilla WellsteinFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-6994-274X
Luigimaria BorrusoFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.
Stefan ZerbeFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.
Damiano ZanotelliFaculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe glaciers in the Alps, as in other high mountain ranges and boreal zones, are generally retreating and leaving a wide surface of bare ground free from ice cover. This early stage soil is then colonized by microbes and vegetation in a process of primary succession. It is rarely experimentally examined whether this colonization process is linear or not at the ecosystem scale. Thus, to improve our understanding of the variables involved in the carbon accumulation in the different stages of primary succession, we conducted this research in three transects on the Matsch glacier forefield (Alps, N Italy) at an altitude between 2,350 and 2,800 m a.s.l.

methodsIn three field campaigns (July, August and September 2014) a closed transparent chamber was used to quantify the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) between the natural vegetation and the atmosphere. On the five plots established in each of the three transects, shading nets were used to determine ecosystem response function to variable light conditions. Ecosystem respiration (Reco) and gross ecosystem exchange (GEE) was partitioned from NEE. Following the final flux measurements, biometric sampling was conducted to establish soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content and the biomass components for each transect.

resultsA clear difference was found between the earlier and the later successional stage. The older successional stages in the lower altitudes acted as a stronger C sink, where NEE, GEE and Reco were significantly higher than in the earlier successional stage. Of the two lower transects, the sink capacity of intermediate-succession plots exceeded that of the plots of older formation, in spite of the more developed soil. Total biomass (above- and belowground) approached its maximum value in the intermediate ecosystem, whilst the later stage of succession predominated in the corresponding belowground organic mass (biomass, N and C). OUTLOOK: We found that the process of carbon accumulation along a glacier retreat chronosequence is not linear, and after a quite rapid increase in carbon accumulation capacity in the first 150 years, in average 9 g C m

Indexed as

Carbon accumulationEcosystem respirationGas exchangeGlacier retreatGross ecosystem exchangeLife formNet ecosystem exchangePlant colonizationSoil analysis

Identifiers

PMID31616581
PMCPMC6790226
OpenAlexW2964088088

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.