Meanings
nouncryosere (plural not attested)
- no pluralrarebiologyA sere originating when moss colonizes ice.
These colonies of mosses invading the glacier surface appear to represent the earliest stages of a lithosere or, more precisely, a cryosere.
2014, James H. Dickson, Robert E. Johnson, “Mosses and the beginning of plant succession on the Walker Glacier, southeastern Alaska”, in Lindbergia, volume 37, number 2, →DOI, pages 60–651 more example
Colonization of mosses on glaciers, although unusual, is considered the earliest stage in a cryosere which regionally terminates in the development of hemlock forest.
1972, Calvin J. Heusser, “Polsters of the moss Drepanocladus berggrenii on Gilkey Glacier, Alaska”, in Torreya, volume 99, number 1, →JSTOR, pages 34–36
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
cryosere. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryosere
MLA
“cryosere.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryosere. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cryosere,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cryosere.
Source: cryosere on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.