Alvarez, Kate Mahalia M.

BSA 205 A

Critic Paper: Ecological Lens for Mount St. Helens

So the movie, Wall-E, has a basis after all! I really thought that the time when Wall-E saw this plant from
a plain and barren surface of the earth, is just another fairytale of disney. It's surreal but it is without any
doubt, very possible. A very good illustration of such event is the searing destruction of life forms by the
so called "sleeping volcano" of the North America.

One of the most destructive eruptions in the world was brought about by Mount St. Helens of
southwestern Washingtono. This eruption, with volcanic eruption index (VEI)- 5, by May 18, 1980 was
preceded by earthquakes of intense 5-6 magnitudes for 2 months. Thereafter, paved way for the
explosion all the way to the north, deteriorating it's 9677 feet by approximately 1300 feet. It spewed the
eeriest mushroom of ashes. Its eruption column rose 80,000 feet into the atmosphere and deposited ash
in 11 U.S. states. It destroyed 150 acres of virgin forests and extinguished every living thing on its way,
including 57 human beings.

Though it left its surroundings desolated and dead, it surprisingly opened the world to the door of
discovery for volcanic pattern studies and most importantly, since it reset the evolutionary clock, it
allowed scientists to witness the actual process of ecological succession.

After some months of scanning the area, they found a gopher, which at this stance would be the barren
place's pioneer species. Then, after three months, they saw a lupen. It must have been that the gopher's
exertion on the area left traces of nutrients to supply growth of a plant, or maybe it's just that the
gopher died and the nutrients were broken back down to the soil. By the subsequent year, they saw
multiple plants of different kinds 4 miles away from the volcano already. It's safe to say that the area
underwent secondary succession since soil is present and it has been a home for different species
before.

Some years passed, it progressively healed itself. Visible and unbelievable events ocurred. The lake near
the volcano, somehow gained clarity and some underwater plants lived. Specifically, six years after,
observers saw salamanders and elks colonizing the area again. Up until now, the area is becoming
greener and greener.
The forming of a climax community must have been swifter since there are human interventions on the
area, this factor may have added up to the supply of nutrients. Mere wandering on the area by a person
may leave different microscopic organisms. Also, the abiotic factors, such as the wind through bringing
different new seeds or sucn and the water during different seasons provided necessary nurtrients to
satiate the needs of the plants to grow. Flying creatures passing by might have also contributed to the
fast revitalization of the area. The geography itself helped in reviving the place. As seen in the photo, the
other half side of the photo was not destryed at all. Thus, migration of animals from there to here would
be totally immediate.

Other sources for facts:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens