Invasion and recovery of vegetation after a volcanic eruption in Hawaii

Abstract

A major volcanic eruption on the Island of Hawaii in December 1959 devastated one existing montane rain- and seasonal-forest covering an area of about 500 ha. The eruption resulted in a massive pahoehoe lava substrate on the crater floor of Kilauea Iki, in a new cinder cone, in an area covered with spatter and another with an extensive blanket of pumice varying along a fallout gradient from over 46 m to less than 2 cm deep. Six new habitats were recognized by kinds of substrate and remains of former vegetation. A study was made of plant invasion and recovery from the time of the disturbance till nine years thereafter. Plant records consisted primarily of periodically listing species by cover abundance in a large number of quadrants along a transect system that crossed the crater floor and extended about 3 km along the fallout gradient. The atmospheric environment was studied concurrently by records of rainfall, lateral rain- and steam-interception and desiccating power. The substrates were examined for their soil moisture properties, temperatures, mineralogical properties and available plant nutrients.