The aim of this study was to determine relationships between soil chemical parameters (i.e. content of total organic carbon, total nitrogen, total sulphur, soil pH) and vegetation development in relation to distance from the current glacier forehead and time elapsed after glacier retreat in the Irenebreen foreland.

Recently deglaciated surfaces of glacier forelands are subjected to a variety of biotic and abiotic factors that lead to continuous soil formation. Until now, no attempt has been taken to analyse multiple factors that might affect soil development in the Arctic forelands. The main aim of this research was to determine the factors that influence soil development in the eight forelands of Svalbard. Moreover, the effects of both habitat type (glacier foreland and mature tundra) and geographical location on environmental variables treated as potential factors influencing soil formation were tested. In 2017, at each location a series of 1 m2 plots was established; all 168 plots were investigated in terms of soil properties, spatial data, biological soil crusts (BSCs) properties, percent cover of BSCs and vascular plants. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis using forward variable selection showed that soil development was significantly associated with six of fifteen analysed factors, i.e. BSC cover, carbon and nitrogen content in BSCs, soil pH, Topographic Wetness Index and foreland location. Two-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's test revealed significant differences in studied environmental variables between habitat types and studied locations, showing that foreland soils still retain particular initial characters to differentiate them from tundra soil.

1. Andreaea rothii F.Weber & D.Mohr subsp. rothiiContributors: J. Csiky, D. Kovács, D. Purger, A. Alegro, V. Segota and J. DemeCroatia: Papuk Mountains, Sokolina, Stražemanka stream at Doljanci vil...

Tardigrades in lichens have been poorly studied with few papers published on their ecology and diversity so far. The aims of our study are to determine the (1) influence of habitat heterogeneity on the densities and species diversity of tardigrade communities in lichens as well as the (2) effect of nutrient enrichment by seabirds on tardigrade densities in lichens. Forty-five lichen samples were collected from Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Prins Karls Forland, Danskøya, Fuglesongen, Phippsøya and Parrøya in the Svalbard archipelago. In 26 samples, 23 taxa of Tardigrada (17 identified to species level) were found. Twelve samples consisted of more than one lichen species per sample (with up to five species). Tardigrade densities and taxa diversity were not correlated with the number of lichen species in a single sample. Moreover, the densities of tardigrades was not significantly higher in lichens collected from areas enriched with nutrients by seabirds in comparison to those not enriched. The incorporation of previously published data on the tardigrades of Spitsbergen into the analysis showed that tardigrade densities was significantly higher in moss than it was in lichen samples. We propose that one of the most important factors influencing tardigrade densities is the cortex layer, which is a barrier for food sources, such as live photosynthetic algal cells in lichens. Finally, the new records of Tardigrada and the first and new records of lichens in Svalbard archipelago are presented.