Plant Succession Across Landforms of Deglaciation 1740-2025 AD, Gígjökull foreland, Iceland

Rapid climate change presents glacial forelands as ideal locations for studying plant succession and ecosystem development. This study investigates plant succession across recently de-glaciated landforms of kettleholes, moraines and sandur plains in the Gígjökull foreland, Iceland. In 2025, the changes in species richness and functional groups were examined over a chronosequence of surfaces formed from 1740 to 2010 AD. Results showed that species richness and functional group diversity increases with successional stage, but there were apparent differences between landforms. Most notably, kettleholes have the highest species richness whereas sandur plains have the lowest. Meanwhile, although kettleholes of younger successional stages show the lowest functional group diversity, this is the highest compared to moraines and sandur plains at older successional stages. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of geomorphological diversity in supporting resilient ecosystems.