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Spatial factors affecting primary succession on the Muddy River Lahar, Mount St. Helens, Washington

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Abstract

Primary succession is controlled by a combination of landscape and habitat factors whose actions may be stochastic or deterministic. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington spawned a massive lahar that now supports a mosaic of vegetation. Our goals were to describe vegetation patterns after 28 growing seasons, determine the factors associated with these patterns, and to contrast the effects of stochastic and deterministic processes. We described species composition and explanatory factors that included location and habitat features in one hundred and fifty one 200-m2 plots. We classified these plots into nine community types (CTs) that were distinguished quantitatively by variations in dominant species. We used multiple regressions, redundancy analysis (RDA), and Mantel tests to compare the vegetation relationships with explanatory factors. Plots in different CTs mingled spatially and in multivariate space. Species patterns were weakly related to explanatory variables by RDA (31.6% of the species variation). RDA indicated that vegetation was most strongly related to elevation, latitude, and isolation, which are primarily landscape factors. Mantel tests confirmed that factors associated with elevation were most closely associated with vegetation. The effects of arrival order were suggested by the dominance of different colonizers in similar environment and by plots with similar vegetation found in different habitats. We concluded that species composition cannot be predicted well from the data available, suggesting that there were no prominent deterministic assembly rules.

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Acknowledgment

M. P. Fleming and R. L. Sewell Nesteruk provided unstinting field support and useful comments to improve the manuscript. It was further improved by the insightful comments of Katrina Dlugosch, Ailene Kane, L. R. Walker, and two reviewers. The U.S. National Science Foundation funded this study (DEB 05-41972). J. E. Sandler was supported by a NSF REU fellowship. The staff of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument facilitated entry. This is contribution No. 56 of the Mount St. Helens Succession Project and is dedicated to the memory of Howard C. Whisler, friend and mentor to RdM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 355325, Seattle, WA, 98195-5325, USA

    R. del Moral, J. E. Sandler & C. P. Muerdter

Authors
  1. R. del Moral
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  2. J. E. Sandler
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  3. C. P. Muerdter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. del Moral.

Appendix

Appendix

Species nomenclature for all species encountered in the survey. Nomenclature determined from ITIS, August 27, 2008. Growth forms are self-explanatory

Species name and authority

Growth form

Abies amabilis (Dougl. ex Loud.) Dougl. ex Forbes

Conifer

Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.

Conifer

Abies procera Rehd.

Conifer

Acer glabrum Torr.

Tall shrub

Achillea millefolium. var. occidentalis DC.

Forb, rhizomatous

Achnatherum occidentale (Thurb. ex. Wats) Barkworth

Grass

Agoseris aurantiaca (Hook.) Greene

Forb, rosette

Agrostis exarata Trin.

Grass, rosette

Agrostis pallens Trin.

Grass, rhizomatous

Agrostis scabra Willd.

Grass, rhizomatous

Alnus viridus ssp. sinuata (Regel) A. & D. Love

Tall shrub

Anaphalis margaritacea (L.) B. & H.

Forb, rhizomatous

Arctostaphylos nevadensis Gray

Low shrub, spreading

Arnica latifolia Bong.

Forb, rosette

Aruncus dioicus var. vulgaris (Maxim.) Hara

Forb, rhizomatous

Aster ledophyllus var. ledophyllus (Gray) Gray

Forb, rhizomatous

Athyrium distentifolium Tausch ex Opiz

Fern

Athyrium filix-femina (L.) Roth

Fern

Carex mertensii Prescott ex Bong.

Graminoid

Carex microptera MacKenzie

Graminoid

Carex rossii Boott

Graminoid

Castilleja miniata Dougl. ex Hook.

Forb, rhizomatous

Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub

Forb, rhizomatous

Chamerion latifolium (L.) Holub

Forb, rhizomatous

Cistanthe umbellata (Torr.) Hershkovitz

Forb, rosette

Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezey

Grass

Epilobium anagallidifolium Lam.

Forb

Equisetum hyemale L.

Horsetail

Eriogonum pyrolifolium Hook. var. coryphaeum Torr. & Gray

Low shrub, rhizomatous

Fragaria virginiana Duchesne

Forb, stoloniferous

Gaultheria ovatifolia Gray

Low shrub, rhizomatous

Hieracium albiflorum Hook.

Forb, rosette

Hieracium gracile Hook.

Forb, rosette

Hypochaeris radicata L.

Forb, rosette

Juncus parryi Engelm

Graminoid

Luetkea pectinata (Pursh.) Kuntzel

Low shrub, rhizomatous

Luina hypoleuca Benth.

Forb, rosette

Lupinus latifolius Lindl. Ex J. G. Agardh.

Forb, rosette

Lupinus lepidus Dougl. ex Lindl.

Forb, rosette

Luzula parviflora (Ehrh.) Desv.

Graminoid

Penstemon cardwellii Howell

Low shrub, spreading

Phyllodoce empetriformis (Sm.) D. Don

Low shrub, spreading

Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Wats.

Conifer

Pinus monticola Dougl.

Conifer

Poa secunda J. Presl.

Grass, rosette

Polygonum davisiae Brewer ex Gray

Forb, spreading

Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw.

Moss

Polystichum lonchitis (L.) Roth

Fern

Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (Torr. & Gray ex Hook.)

Tree, flowering

Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco.

Conifer

Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn.

Fern

Racomitrium canescens (Hedw.) Brid.

Moss

Rosa nutkana K. Presl

Tall shrub

Rubus ursinus Cham. & Schlecht.

Low shrub, stoloniferous

Rumex acetosella L.

Forb

Salix sitchensis Sanson ex Bong.

Tall shrub

Saxifraga ferruginea Graham

Forb, rhizomatous

Sorbus sitchensis M. Roemer

Tall shrub

Trisetum spicatum (L.) K. Richt.

Grass, rhizomatous

Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.

Conifer

Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr.

Conifer

Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. ex Torr.

Tall shrub

Vaccinium parvifolium Sm.

Tall shrub

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del Moral, R., Sandler, J.E. & Muerdter, C.P. Spatial factors affecting primary succession on the Muddy River Lahar, Mount St. Helens, Washington. Plant Ecol 202, 177–190 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-008-9506-y

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