Lack of data on the colonization by Amphibians and Reptiles of the ecosystems developing after retreat of glaciers.

Glaciers show a pattern of retreat at the global scale. As a consequence, increasing surfaces
are exposed and colonized by multiple organisms. Deglaciated areas provide a great opportunity to
understand species responses to climate change. A growing number of studies is assessing how the
organisms colonize recently deglaciated terrains. By performing a literature review, we showed that
in the period 1990-2020 about 900 studies have analysed the dynamics of biotic communities after
glacier retreat, 20% of which focused on animals. Some species of both amphibians and reptiles
have adaptations for cold environments that allow them exploiting high-altitude environments, and
a few studies described their presence in recently deglaciated terrains. For instance, in the Alps Rana
temporaria is able to breed in small lakes a few decades after the retreat of glaciers, nevertheless information on the topic remains anecdotal. In order to evaluate the status of research, we performed a
systematic review on the ISI Web of Science. The literature search returned very few studies (0.1%
of the total) performing quantitative analyses on the recent dynamics of colonization of deglaciated
terrains by amphibians or reptiles. Deglaciated terrains will soon constitute a major component of
high-mountain ecosystems. Focused studies are urgently needed to understand how and at which
rate amphibians and reptiles respond to these major environmental modifications.