Monitoring Primary Succession on Mount St. Helens

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project began in 1980 following the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington and will become one of the longest continuous study of vegetation recovery after a profound disturbance. The basic method is to repeat sampling of permanent plots on sites with different histories and geographic contexts. It seeks to develop an understanding of ecological community assembly (primary succession). Experimental removal of key species will test hypotheses and a study of wetland development will provide dramatic comparisons to documented succession in uplands. The role of the nitrogen-fixing lupines in redirecting, accelerating or retarding succession is a focus of the current study. This project will explore how competition, landscape factors, chance and local heterogeneity affect later stages of primary succession and under what conditions vegetation becomes more predictable. Understanding the constraints to vegetation development on volcanic substrates will permit more effective vegetation restoration on mine tailings and quarries. Understanding dispersal limits, establishment processes and the balance between competition and facilitation will all improve vegetation management. The project will train several graduate and undergraduate students. The data are being made available on the Andrews Long Term Ecological Research web site, and can be used to further education, as a basis for theoretical studies, and to compare other damaged systems.