Gophers: The Unsung Heroes of Mount St. Helens' Revival
TL;DR Summary
After the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, scientists introduced pocket gophers to the devastated landscape to study their impact on ecosystem recovery. Despite their brief 24-hour stay, the gophers' digging and the introduction of spores and fungi significantly boosted plant growth, transforming barren areas into thriving ecosystems over decades. This experiment highlights the potential of using natural processes to aid habitat recovery after environmental disasters.
Topics:top-news#ecosystem-recovery#environment#mount-st-helens#mycorrhizal-fungi#pocket-gophers#volcanic-eruption
- Gophers needed 1 day after Mount St. Helens erupted to bring explosions of new life NPR
- 40 Years Ago, Scientists Dropped Gophers Onto a Volcano. Today, They're Tiny Heroes. Popular Mechanics
- How a single gopher restored a landscape devastated by a volcano New Scientist
- When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, a team of gophers were helicoptered in to bring it back to life BBC Discover Wildlife
- How a Team of Gophers Restored Mount St. Helens After Its Catastrophic Eruption With Less Than a Day of Digging Smithsonian Magazine
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