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Primary succession and Volcanic Eruptions in Mount St.Helens and Krakatoa

By Pavlos Palios,Morgan Mitchell, Stephanos Papageorgiou, Jason Pelecanos

THE END

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Sequence and timings of Plant Colonisation

Sequence and timings of plant colonization

What is Primary Succession?

On both volcanoes:

Images of Plants on Mt.St Helens

  • There were nurse plants, which sheltered seedlings until they could become established.
  • Erosion acted to facilitate succession. For instance, on Mount St. Helens, tephra (fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption) and mud were removed to reveal old surfaces and water channels were formed to support seedling establishment.

Methods and locations of plant arrivals

  • An example of primary succession is the initial development of plant or animal communities in an area where no soil initially exists.
  • This lack of soil can be caused by lava flow, following a volcanic eruption.

Plant succession on Krakatau:

•Blue-green bacteriathen ferns (the pioneer species) followed by grasses and shrubs. Next came mixed woodland (small trees) and finally the climax community of tropical rainforest (tall hardwood trees)

Plant Succession on Mt.St Helens:

  • Prairie lupine (pioneer species) and lichens followed by grasses and shrubs. This is followed by mixed woodland consisting of ponderosa pines and birch (small trees) and lastly the climax community, which is dominated by the larger Douglas fir (tall hardwood trees).

Lichens

Prairie lupine (Lupinus lepidus)

Images of Plants on Krakatoa

On Krakatoa and Mount St. Helens, organisms colonized the barren land using several mechanisms.

These included:

  • Air- by flying (birds, insects) or by passive transportation (lightweight seeds or spores).
  • Sea- (In the case of Krokatoa)- by swimming or floating on a log.
  • Animals- by travelling (or hitchhiking) inside or attached to animals that swim or fly (plant seeds and animal larvae).

Example of Primary succession

Lava field, Rangito Island

Pinus ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa)

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Corpse flower (Rafflesia arnoldii)

Sumatran Pine (Pinus merkusii)

The Volcanoes we will be studying

Mount St. Helens:

•Mount St.Helens is situated in south-west Washington State. It erupted catastrophically on 18 May 1980 and devastated the surrounding environment from up to 18 km north of crater.

Krakatoa:

Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis)

Mangroves

• Krokatoa is a volcanic island is found between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It erupted in 1883, causing massive tsunamis, killing thousands. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 4,800 km from its point of origin.

Effects of eruption on succession

Climax Community

Examples of animals Mount St. Helens

Animal Colonisation

Effects of eruption produced a landscape with low nutrient availability, intense drought, and frequent surface movements involving erosion. These spurred a wide range of conditions for “vegetative recolonisation”.

When a biological community through the process of ecological succession has reached a steady state. This equilibrium occurs because the climax community is composed of species best adapted to average conditions in that area.

Examples of Animals Krakatoa

WORLD MAP

  • Elk (Cervus canadensis).
  • Yellow bellied marrmot (Marmota flaviventris).
  • Black Bear (Ursus americanus).
  • Yellow pine Chipmunk (Neotamias amoenus).
  • Monitor Lizard (Varanus Indicus).
  • Reticulated python (Python reticulatus).
  • Agile gibbon (Hylobates agilis).
  • Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).

However, in both cases wildlife returned to the areas, through successful plant and animal colonisation.

  • Following a volcanic eruption, most animal species are wiped out. Animals only begin to colonise once succession has begun and pioneer species of plants have been fully established, otherwise there is not enough food to sustain life.
  • R-strategists, such as small mammals or birds, are the first animals to colonise, they are subsequently followed by K-startegists, which include larger mammals and birds.

Krakatoa:

The climax vegitation cover of Krokatoa

is that of a tropical rainforest. It consists of

the Sumatran Pine. a large hardwood tree, and is a habitat for animals such as the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii).

Present day Mt St Helens

Mt.St Helens:

Krakatoa

Since the eruption was fairly recent (1980),

there hasn't been enough time for a climax community to be fully established. However, the area is gradually returning to its natural state; shrubs and small trees have started growing and wildlife, such as deer and elk, have returned.

Mount St.Helens

Animal Colonisation

Krakatoa:

Spiders released silken threads into the wind and took to the air, floating over miles of open water. The monitor lizard and the reticulated python swam to the island. Bats and birds flew to the island. Larger animals: mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, used logs and floating debris as rafts.

Mt St. Helens:

Present day Krakatoa

Plants and insects attracted birds, deer, and elk from nearby areas. Some animals survived in underground burrows, and were able to recolonise. Ponds and springs created bythe eruption became the centers of life for survivors and colonizers.

On Krakatau there are now over 400 species of vascular plants, thousands of species and arthropods, over 30 species of birds, 18 species of land molluscs, 17 species of bats and 9 reptiles.

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