Northern Pocket Gopher
The pocket gopher is the farmer of a new landscape near the volcano. Though you
may never see on of these palm-size mammals, they are abundant throughout much of
the blast area. Gophers leave evidence of their winter's work as the snow melts
and reveals long earth cores atop the ash. You may be surprised to find these
cores are solid upon close inspection. The pocket gopher forms tunnels in the
deep snow, then as it feeds on underground plant parts, it brings up fertile
soil from below the ash, stuffing these long snow tunnels. This soil mixture
becomes a seed bed for new plant life which, in turn, may provide roots and
bulbs for a new generation of gophers.
-- Excerpt from: USFS, 1998, Volcano Review:
U.S. Forest Service, Summer/Fall 1998
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Elk
Surprisingly, elk or "wapiti" were seen on the landslide deposit west of the
volcano only weeks after the May 18, 1980, eruption. In recent years, as more
plant life emerges, these large relatives of deer move throughout the blast
zone, feeding in the valleys in winter and moving to the higher slopes in the
spring and summer. As they climb steep slopes, their hooves erode the volcanic
debris, uncovering soil and speeding the return of plants. Even the droppings
of elk contribute valuable nutrients for plants, and carry plant seeds far into
the blown down forest area, thus helping with the reintroduction of vegetation.
-- Excerpt from: USFS, 1998, Volcano Review:
U.S. Forest Service, Summer/Fall 1998
USGS Photo by Lyn Topinka
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Mountain Bluebird
The downed trees and shattered trunks of the remaining forest near the volcano
have provided homes for some forest creatures. The mountain bluebird nests in
cavities found in snags. These birds prefer open areas where they feed on
insects. The sky-blue color of the male bird contrasts with the ashen colors in
the blast zone. Its soft high warble can be heard in the early morning.
-- Excerpt from: USFS, 1998, Volcano Review:
U.S. Forest Service, Summer/Fall 1998
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Fireweed
From seeds that float like parachutes in the wind, these hardy plants send out
roots that can reach fertile soil below the sterile volcanic ash. By mid-summer
the slopes and ridges near the volcano abound with the flaming pink flowers that
appear in clusters along a stem. As the plants die back in the fall their
leaves and stems collect on the ash providing organic matter for the creation of
new soil.
-- Excerpt from: USFS, 1998, Volcano Review:
U.S. Forest Service, Summer/Fall 1998
USGS Photo by Lyn Topinka
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Research Yields New Perspectives
Over the last 17 years scientists have developed some interesting theories about
how ecosystems respond to large-scale disturbance. The Monument and the variety
of "experimental" settings created by the volcano have become an important
laboratory for testing these ideas. The following are a couple of examples:
Animals, from the tiniest wood-boring insect to the largest elk, appear to be
having a profound influence on the developing vegetation. Animals are selecting
and colonizing areas on the basis of habitat characteristics and, in turn,
helping to shape habitat structure and composition. A comparatively simple
system like Mount St. Helens offers a great opportunity to investigate
developing habitat relationships.
Plants representing all major stages of forest development appear to be
establishing simultaneously. This contradicts classic ecological theory that
describes the orderly establishment and successive replacement of one group of
plants by another (for example, mosses followed by grasses by shrubs by trees).
Classic theory, based upon studies of abandoned fields and formerly glaciated
terrain, does no appear to apply at Mount St. Helens.
-- Excerpt from: Peter Frenzen, 1998,
Volcano Review: U.S. Forest Service, Summer/Fall 1998
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