Summary
Tephra and underlying litter and soil were sampled in 1980, 1982, and 1987 beneath subalpine forests where 4.5 and 15 cm of tephra fell during the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington State, USA. Coarse pumice had a higher initial pH and less total N, less exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg, and less extractable B and S than finer textured layers. Tephra pH and concentrations of cations and S decreased rapidly with time, especially during the first 2 years in the finer layers. Total N, Bray-Kurtz P, and organic C concentrations in the tephra increased with time. Changes within a site in total N, pH, organic C, P, Ca, Mg, and S from 1980 to 1987 exceeded the differences among sites at any one time. By 1987 a forest floor covered much of the tephra surface, and differences in Ca associated with site vegetation and seepage had developed in tephra layers of a similar depth. In 15 cm deep tephra at one site in 1987, the tephra crust beneath the forest canopy was thicker and had higher concentrations of coarse particles, organic C, total N, and cations than beneath forest openings. In concave microsites the crust was thicker, with higher pH, organic C, and total N but lower S than in adjacent convex microsites. Spatial and temporal chemical differences are sufficient to affect patterns of vegetation recovery.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antos JA, Zobel DB (1982) Snowpack modification of volcanic tephra effects on forest understory plants near Mount St. Helens. Ecology 63:1969–1972
Antos JA, Zobel DB (1985a) Plant form, developmental plasticity, and survival following burial by volcanic tephra. Can J Bot 63:2083–2090
Antos JA, Zobel DB (1985b) Upward movement of underground plant parts into deposits of tephra from Mount St. Helens. Can J Bot 63:2091–2096
Antos JA, Zobel DB (1985c) Recovery of forest understories buried by tephra from Mount St. Helens. Vegetatio 64:103–111
Antos JA, Zobel DB (1986) Seedling establishment in forests affected by tephra from Mount St. Helens. Am J Bot 73:495–499
del Moral R, Clampitt CA (1985) Growth of native plant species on recent volcanic substrates from Mount St. Helens. Am Midl Nat 114:374–383
Dethier DP, Pevear DR, Frank D (1981) Alteration of new volcanic deposits. In: Lipman PW, Mullineaux DR (eds) The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1250, Washington, pp 649–665
Franklin JF, Dyrness CT (1973) Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington. USDA for Serv Gen Tech Rep PNW-8, Washington
Frenzen PM, Franklin JF (1985) Establishment of conifers from seed on tephra deposited by the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Am Midl Nat 114:84–97
Geist JM (1977) Nitrogen response relationships of some volcanic ash soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41:996–1000
Greene SE, Klopsch M (1985) Soil and air temperatures for different habitats in Mount Rainier National Park, USDA For Ser Res Pap PNW-342, Washington DC
Hoffer JM, Hoffer RL (1986) Chemical composition of the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens tephra and the underlying soil: Changes from July 1980 to May 1981. In: Keller SAC (ed) Mount St. Helens: Five years later. Eastern Washington University Press, Cheney, pp 108–111
Jenny H (1980) The soil resource. Origin and behavior. Springer, New York
Kittleman LR (1979) Geologic methods in studies of Quaternary tephra. In: Sheets PD, Grayson DK (eds) Volcanic activity and human ecology. Academic Press, New York, pp 49–82
Mullineaux DR (1986) Summary of pre-1980 tephra-fall deposits erupted from Mount St. Helens, Washington State, USA. Bull Volcanol 48:17–26
Okajima H, Sakuma T, Imai H, Iizuka F, Kiso S, Taniyama I (1978) Preliminary studies on the pedological aspects of new tephra erupted from Usu volcano. In: Usu eruption and its impact on environment. Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, pp 335–347
Sarna-Wojcicki AM, Shipley S, Waitt RB Jr, Dzurisin D, Wood SH (1981a) Areal distribution, thickness, mass, volume and grain size of air-fall ash from the six major eruptions of 1980. In: Lipman PW, Mullineaux DR (eds) The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1250, Washington, pp 577–600
Sarna-Wojcicki AM, Meyer CE, Woodward MJ, Lamothe PJ (1981b) Composition of air-fall ash erupted on May 18, May 25, June 12, July 22, and August 7. In: Lipman PW, Mullineaux DR (eds) The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1250, Washington, pp 667–681
Shipley S, Sarna-Wojcicki AM,(1983) Distribution, thickness, and mass of late Pleistocene and Holocene tephra from major volcanoes in the northwestern United States: A preliminary assessment of hazards from volcanic ejecta to nuclear reactors in the Pacific Northwest. US Geol Surv Misc Field Studies Map MF-1435, Washington DC
Shoji S, Fujiwara Y, Yamada I, Saigusa M (1982) Chemistry and clay mineralogy of ando soils, brown forest soils, and podzolic soils formed from recent Towada ashes, northeastern Japan. Soil Sci 133:69–86
Singer M, Ugolini FC, Zachara J (1978) In situ study of podzolization on tephra and bedrock. Soil Sci Soc Am J 42:105–111
Stark NM, Essig DA (1985) Nutrient release from Mount St. Helens volcanic ash and retention by western Montana soil. USDA Forest Service Res Pap INT-338, Washington DC
Turner J, Singer MJ (1976) Nutrient distribution and cycling in a subalpine coniferous forest ecosystem. J Appl Ecol 13:295–301
Ugolini FC, Zasoski RJ (1979) Soils derived from tephra. In: Sheets PD, Grayson DK (eds) Volcanic activity and human ecology. Academic Press, New York, pp 83–124
Ugolini FC, Dawson H, Zachara J (1977) Direct evidence of particle migration in the soil solution of a podzol. Science 196:603–605
Vogt KA, Grier CC, Meier CE, Keyes MR (1983) Organic matter and nutrient dynamics in forest floors of young and mature Abies amabilis stands in western Washington, as affected by fine-root input. Ecol Monogr 53:139–157
Wagner R, Walker RB (1986) Mineral nutrient availability in some Mount St. Helens surface samples. In: Keller SAC (ed) Mount St. Helens: Five years later. Eastern Washington University Press, Cheney, pp 153–162
Waitt RB Jr, Dzurisin D (1981) Proximal air-fall deposits from the May 18 eruption — Stratigraphy and field sedimentolgy. In: Lipman PW, Mullineaux DR (eds) The 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 1250, pp 601–616, Washington
Wood DM, del Moral R (1987) Mechanisms of early primary succession in subalpine habitats on Mount St. Helens. Ecology 68:780–790
Zobel DB, Antos JA (1986) Survival of prolonged burial by subalpine forest understory plants. Am Midl Nat 115:282–287
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zobel, D.B., Antos, J.A. 1980 tephra from Mount St. Helens: Spatial and temporal variation beneath forest canopies. Biol Fert Soils 12, 60–66 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369389
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369389