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Based on a wide range of empirical data we investigated surface and vegetation dynamics in the artificial initial ecosystem "Chicken Creek" (Lusatia, Germany) in the years 2008-2011. We scrutinized three different hypotheses concerning (1) the relations between initial geomorphological and substrate characteristics with surface structure and terrain properties, (2) the effects of the latter on the occurrence of grouped plant species, and (3) vegetation density effects on terrain surface change. Our data comprise annual vegetation monitoring results, terrestrial laser scans twice a year, annual groundwater levels, and initially measured soil characteristics. Using Generalized Linear Models (GLMM) and Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMM) we can mostly confirm our hypotheses, revealing statistically significant relations that partly reflect object or period specific effects but also more general processes which mark the transition from a geo-hydro towards a bio-geo-hydro system, where pure geomorphology or substrate feedbacks are changing into vegetation-substrate feedback processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]