EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

A Lava Challenge

Lava Flow
Lassen National Park, California USA

Explanation:  Here is a challenge.  There seems to be scant scientific studies or even natural history observations about what happens to ecosystems on lava flows.  

What is called "primary succession" refers to the development of ecological communities following a major disturbance event, such as a catastrophic wildfire, major flood, or ... in our case, here, a lava flow.

Lava flows have been well studied, it sees, in terms of how they devastate environments.  But what then?  What happens, perhaps years or decades or more, later, when the lava stops, cools, and forms a radically new environment?  

Yes, early it is know how early "pioneer" species of lichens, mosses, herbs, and shrubs can come to invade the site.  But what about ... everything else?  The invertebrates, the insects and pollinators, the small mammals, the birds?  How does the substrate incorporate nutrients to allow colonization by other species?  What are the specific ecological functions of the organisms that appear?  Is there a specific sequence of recolonizations that must take place?  How does this vary among the intensities of lava flows, among locations and biogeographic regions, over time?

This is my challenge to researchers, to students, to curious observers!  

Here is the peak of Mount Lassen, a volcano in repose
that has provided this wonderful ecological and scientific challenge!