This book provides the first comprehensive review of the available information on the ecology of recently-deglaciated terrain and critically evaluates the methodology currently employed in such studies. The theme developed is that the ecology of these regions can only be fully understood by giving due consideration to the role and interaction of both physical and biological processes in the development of the landscape. By adopting this geoecological approach, the spatial variation and dynamics of vegetation and soils is considered in relation to other aspects of the landscape such as topographic variation, climate, and geomorphic processes. A geoecological model is thus outlined that provides both a framework for interpreting the varied ecological nature of glacier forelands found throughout the world, and also an agenda for future research.