Abstract ID: 3.11977 | Accepted as Talk | Talk/Oral | TBA | TBA

Glacier retreat is a striking symptom of global warming. All over the world, glaciers are retreating and exposing new areas for colonisation by living organisms, including plants and microorganisms. Microorganisms are among the first colonizer of deglaciated terrains and play an important role in soil development. Moreover, they play an important role in plant establishment, as numerous microbes have close interactions with plants, and perform different functions that can be positive (i.e. symbiotic) and/ or negative (i.e. pathogenic). However, we are lacking knowledge on the impact of glacier retreat on plant–microbe interactions and how networks assemble and develop following glacier retreat. Here, we assessed how plant and microbe diversity as well as their interaction networks respond to glacier retreat along a 140-years chronosequence (Mont Miné, Val d’Hérens, Switzerland). Using field survey and environmental DNA, we assessed the effects of plant succession on soil microbial communities at 3 different levels: patch, rhizosphere, and endosphere. Our results highlight the novel assembly and development of networks along the foreland influenced by interaction, rewiring from patch to rhizosphere and endosphere.