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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted with a force that killed 57 people, destroyed 52,000 hectares of forest, and sent an ash plume1 so high it circled the globe. Now, three decades later, the blast zone is once again teeming2 with life, amazing scientists.
Peter Frenzen was a university student when the mountain blew. In Seattle, 150 kilometers from the volcano, he watched the devastation3 unfold on TV. Today, Frenzen is the staff scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic4 Monument. The park preserves portions of the blast zone for scientific studies. Other parts are open for public recreation.
From charred5 landscape to new life
Bucolic6 trails wind through the once charred landscape surrounding Mount St. Helens. Tall alders7 grow around ponds that weren't here before. Multitudes of frogs and salamanders will appear soon as it warms up. Elk8 hoof9 prints cross the way. Willows10 and lupines sprout11 on exposed hillsides.
"The change has been amazing," Frenzen says. "And one of things that we've learned here at Mount St. Helens is that things that initially12 look dead are usually anything but dead. Those things that look messy to our eye are in fact the critical ingredients of the next thriving ecosystem13.
Monument scientist Peter Frenzen examines a tiny lupine poking14 through the moss15 in the blast zone.
Like Frenzen, Washington State University botanist16 John Bishop17 has also spent much of his professional career in the blast zone.
"What we've realized as we've spent a lot of time here and we've quantified the plants and the animals is that we actually have extraordinary levels of diversity here, of biological diversity," says Bishop.
There is more richness around the volcano now, in fact, than in an old growth forest. The patchy jumble18 of habitats has become a stronghold for critters otherwise in decline such as elk, the yellow warbler and Western toad19.
Letting nature take its course
Bishop suggests there are lessons to be learned from watching nature take its course.
"This recognition might lead us to be more careful as we decide what to do with disturbed areas," he says. "So it could be applied20 to areas that have experienced large forest fires, for example."
Scientists are amazed that the once-charred area around Mount St. Helens is new teeming with life.
Frenzen admits it's not as productive in terms of lumber21 or other material. "But in terms of the animals and plants out here, it's fundamentally more productive in terms of the diversity of the ecosystem that results."
He says the human tendency is to rush in and restore or replant things. But after watching the developments on the slopes of Mount St. Helens, he and his colleagues have become believers in letting nature run its course, at least some of the time.
Wider implications
Forest Service researcher Charlie Chrisafulli and seven other scientists published a journal article to that effect this spring. It's the latest in a flurry of recent papers that try to draw wider implications from the explosion of new life at the volcano.
In addition to recovery after wildfires, Chrisafulli sees applications for other restoration situations. "Areas that were inundated22 following tsunamis23, or from windstorms and ice storms and even from harvesting practices or strip mines."
In fact, Chrisafulli says U.S. mining industry consultants24 called him recently for ideas about restoring the scraped, barren landscape around closed strip mines.
He told them to plant lupines because those flowers have done such a good job of creating new soil at the volcano.
1 plume | |
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰 | |
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2 teeming | |
adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 );到处都是;(指水、雨等)暴降;倾注 | |
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3 devastation | |
n.毁坏;荒废;极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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4 volcanic | |
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的 | |
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5 charred | |
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式);烧焦 | |
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6 bucolic | |
adj.乡村的;牧羊的 | |
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7 alders | |
n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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8 elk | |
n.麋鹿 | |
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9 hoof | |
n.(马,牛等的)蹄 | |
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10 willows | |
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木 | |
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11 sprout | |
n.芽,萌芽;vt.使发芽,摘去芽;vi.长芽,抽条 | |
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12 initially | |
adv.最初,开始 | |
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13 ecosystem | |
n.生态系统 | |
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14 poking | |
n. 刺,戳,袋 vt. 拨开,刺,戳 vi. 戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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15 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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16 botanist | |
n.植物学家 | |
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17 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
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18 jumble | |
vt.使混乱,混杂;n.混乱;杂乱的一堆 | |
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19 toad | |
n.蟾蜍,癞蛤蟆 | |
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20 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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21 lumber | |
n.木材,木料;v.以破旧东西堆满;伐木;笨重移动 | |
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22 inundated | |
v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 );(洪水般地)涌来;充满;给予或交予(太多事物)使难以应付 | |
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23 tsunamis | |
n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 ) | |
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24 consultants | |
顾问( consultant的名词复数 ); 高级顾问医生,会诊医生 | |
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