Ecological Succession... What happens when a landscape is drastically altered? Maybe a wildfire wipes out an entire forest... maybe a volcanic eruption like Mount St. Helen's completely decimates an area of ecological balance. Will life ever return? How long does this process take? Today, we looked closer at the process of Ecological Succession in disturbed communities. Fortunately for us, plants are extremely resilient and will almost always return to an extremely disturbed environment. The type and severity of disturbance, however, will greatly impact the pace in which life returns to the area. The quickest and most responsive return of living species follows the process of Secondary Ecological Succession. This typically occurs in response to a disturbance that alters many, but not all of the vegetation. A great example of this is a wildfire!
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What happens if we drastically alter one of these perfectly functioning biomes? May 18, 1980 - The Eruption of Mount St. Helens "The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State on May 18, 1980, is certain to be remembered as one of the most significant geologic events in the United States of the 20th century. The explosion, on May 18, was initiated by an earthquake and rockslide involving one-half cubic mile of rock. As the summit and north slope slid off the volcano that morning, pressure was released inside the volcano - where super hot liquid water immediately flashed to steam. The northward-directed steam explosion released energy equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT, which toppled 150 square miles of forest in six minutes. In Spirit lake, north of the volcano, an enormous water wave, initiated by one-eighth cubic mile of rockslide debris, stripped trees from slopes as high as 850 feet above the pre-eruption water level. The total energy output, on May 18, was equivalent to 400 million tons of TNT - approximately 20,000 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs." - http://www.icr.org/article/mt-st-helens-catastrophism/ Something to think about... How long will it take for the vegetation to return to this area? What vegetation will begin to fill in first? Which vegetation will fill in last? At what point will we see animals again? |
Mr. Hulse
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