John Bishop, a biologist at WSU Vancouver, examines plants in the Mount St. Helens blast zone.
Revegetation is a slow process in parts of the blast zone
Visitors to Mount St. Helens can see the land’s changing plant life.
Wildflowers, trees, and shrubs bring new life to the slopes of the volcano
Fauna, such as this frog, are returning to Mount St. Helens and increasing the biodiversity of the area.
Insects are having an outsized effect on the return of other life forms to the volcanically seared Pumice Plain.
Stem-boring larvae are slowing the growth of willows whose tall, 3D structure would attract a broader suite of plants and animals.
Lupines and other plants thriving on the slopes of St. Helens.
Lupines thriving on the slopes of St. Helens
Lupines thriving on the slopes of St. Helens
Varying degrees of destruction like this blast-flattened forest let biologists see how life responds to different types of disturbance.
Parts of Mount St. Helens were made virtually sterile by the 1980 eruption.
A new day dawns at Mount St. Helens
Photographs by Bill Wagner
Read the article “A New Land”
