Primary succession on Mount St. Helens, with reference to Surtsey

Abstract

Vegetation development on Surtsey and Mount St. Helens has been influenced by remarkably similar processes. Both are isolated, so colonizers are filtered. in each case, species accumulation and vegetation development were initiated by a few species, with a lag phase before biomass accumulated rapidly. on both, establishment was first concentrated in favorable microsites and facilitated by nutrient inputs. Established plants often fostered other species in both cases. That such contrasting systems exhibit similar mechanisms of community assembly offers important restoration lessons.