Résumé
Glaciers in the Tropical Andes and other mountain regions are retreating widely. The emerging glacier forelands, often associated with physical risks and hazards, are not only the stage for many processes and paraglacial dynamics that shape the landscapes following glacier retreat. At the same time as glacier retreat, soils develop, and the new landscape is quickly colonized by plants, animals, and the other phyla (i.e., primary succession). This contribution focuses on the novel proglacial ecosystems resulting from accelerated biophysical processes and altered community assembly. Through a compilation of soil and plant chronosequence studies, we present the main characteristics of proglacial pedogenesis and vegetation succession in areas of the Cordillera Blanca deglacierized since the Little Ice Age. We highlight the presence of peatlands after approximately 150 years of deglacierization. In the Cordillera Blanca, the implications for current and future proglacial landscape management and cascading ecological and societal consequences are numerous. Proglacial landscapes can act as hydrological buffers and filters, store carbon, and function as refuges for cold-adapted species, thus favoring high Andean biodiversity conservation.