Lichens recolonize postglacial forelands exactly as they did ten millennia ago

Evidence

Melting glaciers are exposing land where it has not been seen for millennia. At the edge of the ice, newly scraped land is emerging, a jumble of rocky till, harsh and cold. Umbilicaria is known to be among the first to colonize postglacial forelands today, just as it did when the earth was raw and bare, ten thousand years ago—another era of great climate change. Our indigenous herbalists say to pay attention when plants come to you; they’re bringing you something you need to learn. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1011

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: which postglacial foreland lichen-colonization studies substantiate this, and how fast does recolonization proceed at contemporary ice margins?
• XREF: connects to: Lichens engineer soil that eventually lets competitors replace them — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1006

Broader Connections

• Lichens engineer soil that eventually lets competitors replace them #qualifies (0.75) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1006