cryosere

English

Etymology

From cryo- +‎ sere.

Noun

cryosere (plural not attested)

1. (ecology, rare) A sere originating when moss colonizes ice.
   • 1972, Calvin J. Heusser, “Polsters of the moss Drepanocladus berggrenii on Gilkey Glacier, Alaska”, in Torreya, volume 99, number 1, →JSTOR, pages 34–36:

     Colonization of mosses on glaciers, although unusual, is considered the earliest stage in a cryosere which regionally terminates in the development of hemlock forest.

   • 2014, James H. Dickson, Robert E. Johnson, “Mosses and the beginning of plant succession on the Walker Glacier, southeastern Alaska”, in Lindbergia, volume 37, number 2, →DOI, pages 60–65:

     These colonies of mosses invading the glacier surface appear to represent the earliest stages of a lithosere or, more precisely, a cryosere.

Coordinate terms

• lithosere