Mount St. Helens: 45 years later, research remains vibrant

Forty-five years after the most catastrophic volcanic eruption in United States history, one of the world’s biggest outdoor laboratories for studying environmental disturbance continues to yield fresh knowledge for the next generation of Forest Service scientists, research partners, and the American public.

Photo Credit

Donald Brown, USDA Forest Service.

A snow-capped Mount St. Helens, May 2023.

A few weeks after Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, scientist from the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station arrived on the blasted, ashy landscape. Large swaths of land around the mountain looked completely barren of plants and animals.

The Mount St. Helens eruption had profoundly and irrevocably altered the landscape.

But instead of focusing on what was lost, Forest Service researchers immersed themselves in what could be found—because despite the devastation, biological legacies (plant and animal life that tenaciously survived the eruption) persisted. The PNW Research Station took the lead in developing world-renowned, long-term studies in ecological response to massive environmental disturbance on the flanks of Mount St. Helens.

They set out to study how life layers back after massive physical devastation.

These ongoing studies in disturbance ecology have informed recovery planning and management for other disturbed areas, nationally and internationally, after large-scale environmental events—whether due to fires, floods, wind events, or volcanic eruptions.

The eruption

Photo Credit

Donald Brown, USDA Forest Service.

Mount St. Helens erupted for 9 hours on May 18, 1980, in southwest Washington, destroying plant and animal life in the surrounding 230 square miles of forest and killing 57 people. In this May 19, 1980, post-eruption image, Spirit Lake is buried under debris. USDA Forest Service photo, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, National Archives at Seattle.

On March 27, 1980, Mount St. Helens hadn’t made a peep since the 1850s. Then the mountain erupted its first burst of steam that hollowed out a crater 250 feet wide and spat ash 7,000 feet into the air. Over the ensuing weeks, a large bulge formed on the north side of the volcano as magma moved toward the surface, suggesting an eruption was likely imminent.

On May 18 at 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens erupted in spectacular fashion. The north flank of the volcano slid onto the surrounding landscape followed by a lateral blast of hot gases, ash, and rock that impacted 230 square miles of the surrounding forest. In all, the eruption killed 57 residents, researchers, campers, lumberjacks, and journalists and caused more than $1 billion in damages.

Two weeks after the eruption, Mount St. Helens’ ash had circumnavigated the globe. Two months after the eruption, PNW Research Station researchers had boots on the ground.

Research today

Donald Brown, research ecologist and lead station scientist at Mount St. Helens, recently started a long-term, passive wildlife monitoring program there. It uses autonomous recording units and camera traps to assess the occurrence and prevalence of birds, bats, and ground-dwelling mammals across the disturbance area. Between 2023 and 2024, researchers collected data at 67 bird sites and 10 bat sites for the monitoring program. In 2025, researchers will collect data at an additional 50 bird sites and deploy camera traps at all 117 bird sites.

Much like the biological legacy species that survived the eruption, PNW Research Station scientists have been persistent in their work on Mount St. Helens. It takes time—decades—to understand how a landscape recovers after a major ecological disturbance.

“I plan to repeat bird and mammal sampling at approximately 5-year intervals to monitor wildlife responses to this rapidly changing landscape,” explained Brown.

In addition to his wildlife research, Brown initiated a project in December 2024 to model and project the continued changes to plant communities in disturbance zones resulting from the Mount St. Helens eruption. The forest succession dynamics project will give researchers a better understanding of forest repopulation and forest health after a major environmental disturbance—knowledge that is applicable to all communities (plant, animal, and human) living in high-risk environmental disturbance zones.

 

Photo Credit

John McNelly, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Donald Brown, research ecologist with the Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station and lead Mount St. Helen’s scientist, measures a salamander captured in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, which surrounds Mount St. Helens.

Photo Credit

Donald Brown, USDA Forest Service.

This avian and bat monitoring site in the Hummocks area of Mount St. Helens is part of a recently launched a long-term, passive wildlife monitoring program that uses autonomous recording units and camera traps.

Growing the legacy

The PNW Research Station is gearing up to host a science “pulse” this summer. These gatherings are held every 5 years. Research ecologists from around the country come to the volcano and share current findings, collect another round of data, and plan the next contingent of research studies. Perhaps most importantly, this year’s pulse will shepherd in another generation of curious, enthusiastic researchers who will carry decades of vibrant research and innovation into the future.

Locations of passive wildlife monitoring stations on Mount St. Helens.