Ecological Responses to the 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens caused tragic loss of life and property, but also created a unique opportunity to study a huge disturbance of natural systems and their subsequent responses. This book synthesizes 25 years of ecological research into of volcanic activity, and shows what actually happens when a volcano erupts, what the immediate and long-term dangers are, and how life reasserts itself in the environment.



Virginia Dale is a Corporate Fellow in the Environmental Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  She is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee.

Fred Swanson is a Research Geologist at the USDA Forest Service Pacific NW Research Station in Corvallis, OR.

Charles Crisafulli is an Ecologist at the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research station in Olympia, WA.