Conclusion
Understanding the development of communities in primary successions
remains a major task of ecological studies. Our study suggests that,
even though time since glacier retreat is a more important driver than
depth in shaping the diversity of communities, patterns are not
identical for superficial and deeper samples. This can have important
consequences on ecosystem functioning, for example for the sequestration
of organic carbon in these soils (Khedim et al., 2021). Nevertheless,
differences between depths tend to decrease through time with a
consistent pattern in both microorganisms and animals, possibly because
of the increasing role of plants along successional stages. Future
studies are required to identify possible factors driving biotic
colonization within the same system (e.g. microclimate, soil features,
etc.) and patterns of biotic interactions.