The Spread of Exotic Plant Species at Mount St. Helens: The Roles of a Road, Disturbance Type, and Post-disturbance Management

Published In

Ecological Responses at Mount St. Helens: Revisited 35 years after the 1980 Eruption

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

1-2018

Abstract

Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically altered during and after the 18 May 1980 eruption, creating large expanses of disturbed land that could be susceptible to exotic plant invasion. We studied spatial patterns of exotic plant richness and abundance along a road and pedestrian trail that traverse a volcanic disturbance gradient with varying management prescriptions. In blast areas, exotic plant richness and abundance increased near the road, demonstrating the role that both roads and canopy cover play in the dispersal and establishment of exotic species. However, the overall richness and abundance of exotic plants were relatively low, and the pyroclastic-flow zone vegetation was dominated by native plants.

Rights

© Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2018

DOI

10.1007/978-1-4939-7451-1_9

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/27911

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