We hope that you enjoyed your visit to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and Weyerhaeuser St. Helens Tree Farm today.1. What is the major disturbance - natural or human-caused - in your home region?
2. What large disturbance events have you lived through? Tell us about one of them (year, event) and how it impacted your community. Include any relevant links.
17 comments:
In Virginia we have had several hurricanes and strong tropical storms. Hurricane Isabel in I believe 2004 affected me because I wasn't sure if we could camp at the girl scout camp as there was a lot of downed trees and some minor damage. They were able to clean it up though so we had a great weekend.
Sue from VA
We have many disturbances in NH, including invasive species like oriental bittersweet and burning bush as well as ice storms and more recently flooding.
Winter weather including ice and snow are very unpredictable in NH. Before this past winter, NH had been having barely any snow during the winters which was causing a deep frost in the soil, that was getting deeper than ever before. No one quite knows the impacts this will have on soil critters and delicate roots. Scientists at Hubbard Brook Research Forest in Thornton NH are monitoring these impacts.
I was overseas during the Ice Storm of 1996 but more recently (2006) we had very bad flooding like we had never seen before. It was called the "Great Mother's Day Flood" and one of its major disturbances besides washing away my driveway and keeping me from my house for two days, was that the amount of water flow caused the Suncook River to completely change course and direction, and left river front homes on mud flats and carved a new path into the forest and local sand pit. The impacts on this river ecosystem is now being studied.
http://www.friendsofsuncookriver.org/page11C.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4RJ_wFweZA
Hi All,
In Colorado, we most commonly have disturbances by wildfire. Since Colorado is so dry, it is uncommon to see lichens or moss growing on downed wood. It just sits around and dry rots for years, so fire is a replacement for decomposers to return nutrients to the soil. A commonality wildfire burn sites share with Mt. St. Helens is the color, erosion issues and complete devastation of life. A contrast is that the regeneration, even in catastrophic wildfires, is much quicker.
I've never personally lived through a large disturbance event but a couple have happened with 60 miles of Greeley, Colorado where I grew up. The first is the Big Thompson flood, in 1976 where 136 people were killed. Some were buried and never found. Although some houses are still on the floodplain, the new highway is several feet about the river.
http://www.reporterherald.com/webextra/1976flood/
The second is much more recent, the Windsor tornado which hit the town in which I student taught. Although the loss of houses numbered in the hundreds, only one life was lost. After commenting on the loss of property, you commonly hear people say with deep sadness, "The trees are gone..."
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/429293
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20080524/NEWS/888521032
Cherie
In Northern Minnesota we have an area that is called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It isn't a very large wilderness area (1 million acres), but it is the most heavily used wilderness area in the United States. Over one million people visit the area each year.
Most people come to the wilderness because it is a series of lakes that are connected by portages and there is an endless combination of routes visitors can take. On July 4, 2000 this area was impacted by a very freakish storm.
The day started off quite warm and muggy. Although the weather forecast called for a change during the day. A low pressure system was hanging out over North Dakota and was trying to push the warm air out.
They say that the cold air pushed a hole open and a gush of cold air came into the region in what is described as a "flat line wind". Not a tornado, but the wind speeds were every bit like a tornado and the effects were similar. In a matter of minutes the winds managed to flatten over ten thousand acres. The wilderness was filled with lots of people due to the holiday and there are many stories of rescue efforts.
The storm was quite impressive and left a big scar on the landscape and an equal impression on the people in our area. However the storm was really only half the issue.
Because the area is managed as a wilderness the decision was made to leave the trees as they fell and there was to be no attempt to save the timber. Over the years this wood has dried and seasoned on the ground. Adding to the situation was the area went into a multi-year drought. For the last couple of years we have been having major forest fires in the area. These fires have burned up businesses and on several occasions crossed into Canada.
It is an impressive event that has yet to unfold it's full story.
Living in a city I feel like there are lots of human caused disturbances. Closest to my house is Johnson Creek which is a creek that runs through the city and is terribly polluted but it is exciting to see how many restoration and replanting native plants projects are happening along its banks.
I have been in several earthquakes in Alaska. Some were fairly good sized and shook the cabins I lived in. But they didn't really cause any large scale damage in the town I was in. I can't really think of any others.
I did think today was a great day and really fascinating. Thanks for making it happen.
I'm excited for the next adventure,
Elizabeth
Typhoons are very common in the Philippines. Just last month, a strong typhoon sink a passenger ferry in the Visayas region. Classes in the affected areas were cancelled and utility services - like water, electricity, and communication facilities were affected.
On the other side of the story, the presence of typhoons make the family closer together and the children playing inside the house. It is one of the best times for soup, coffee with the family and something to play with while waiting for the strong winds or the rains to cease.
That's why houses in the Philippines are mostly made with concrete. It's good to have a good foundation, in the presence of inevitable typhoons!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/world/asia/23filip.html
Arvin
What a great day today!!
We usually don't have great nature disturbances in Germany.
In the last years we had some more or less big storms, but not where I live. I never personally witnessed any disturbance event.
But here a link to some storms and hurricanes in Germany:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/content/Die_schwersten_Orkane_in_Deutschland/1008/181282 and then "zurZDF mediatek"
Tina
Windstorms and bark beetle attacks.
I experienced a couple of big windstorms that blew down a lot of spruce forests. However, if I had not been involved in forestry, I would probably never have noticed any impact on the communities.
As in Germany, we don't have many natural disturbances in Brazil. However, we have lots of human impact in our forests. We have deforestation, fire, exotic species, new condos in forest land, cattle, etc...
In 2002, I was in a party at the university and when I arrived home, (grandparents’ home) I realized that my father and mother were there too. At that time they lived on a farm and just came to the city to work. We had a terrible storm and all the roads were closed. Some houses were destroyed and lots of trees fall a part.
So, that is the experience I had.
I had a wonderful time today. Thank you for organizing everything! I also had a great time talking with Bill at the bus.
I'm exciting to go to the canopy crane tomorrow!
In South Carolina along the coast where I live, hurricanes are always the worry. The last one to have an effect on us was Hurricane Floyd. It was really a mild hurricane, but had so much rain in it that it created a great flood in our area. We live on the river and the night before the storm the river was at an all time low. The storm passed through the night and about 5:00 in the morning I heard our boat hitting under the dock. the water had come up 12 feet overnight. Ron and I had to go out in the rain and wind, partially sink the boat to get it out from under the dock. I fell in the water, in the dark, but I'm still here today! The water continued to rise another 10 feet before it crested. Our entire dock was under water. Many areas around us flooded.
In Baja California the principal disturbed is the natural fire.
The vegetation response at fire with different strategies. Some sends need the fire for germination. Other growing after the fire.
Is very interesting the ecology of the fire.
Growing up in California I got accustomed to earthquakes at a young age. Landslides are a common result of big earthquakes as well as loss of human life and structures.
I remember vividly the earthquake of October 17th 1989. I was with with a few friends of mine being very productive (playing the Nintendo). It was the third game of the world series and the teams were playing in San Francisco (it was the A's and the Giants). The quake hit around 5pm.
Freeways collapsed and the Bay Bridge had a huge upper section collapse to the lower section. The quake killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured 3,757 people and left some 8,000 to 12,000 people homeless.
Remember what I was doing at the time? Playing video games. My fellow California friend and I just rode out the quake whilst my friend from Colorado panicked and ran about the room yelling for us to hide under the bed or something. I reached the next level and my friends family moved back to their home state three weeks later...
Most recently, the storm of December 2007 (2nd and 3rd) devestated parts of the Oregon (and Washington) coasts. Many trees fell, (as many as 60 on a single house in Astoria) and some were without power for as much as a week! Luckily, the temperature was rather mild, so people weren't freezing, and I believe no one died directly as a result of the storm (fairly amazing given the size). However, since the storm, I know of at least two loggers that were killed as a result of the clean-up efforts.
Today, it is another gogerous day, we visit that great mountain, it cherish so many good story, though not happy, but it gave me many many imaginetic points. because of the natural disaster, we learn much from the natural.
I think protecting our world is everybody's duty. we should respect nature. of course, to some degree, we maybe have no way to do this in front of some conditions. what we should do is do something based on the natural rule.
My questions: what the diffferent between vocanos, how can it influence the forest sucession? exploring tourism program is very good things to protect natural and give people living class, but tourism will impact the nature, how can arrive the goal "win-win".
On October 1999, the eastern coast of India was hit by an exceptionally strong cyclone ("supercyclone") devastating a large portion of the State of Orissa. It is estimated that up to 15 million people were seriously affected by the cyclone. The number of deaths was estimated to be over 10,000.
Before the cyclone, it was projected that that the neighboring state of West Bengal would be the equally affected by this natural calamity. Surprisingly, only minimal damage was caused in the heavily populated sunderban areas (in southern part of West Bengal) despite being on the main path of the cyclone. Whereas, 5 districts of the neighboring state of Orissa was totally devastated by the cyclone. Scientists believe that the presence of mangrove forests bordering the coastline of West Bengal played a crucial role in thwarting the intensity of the cyclonic winds.
This was an important lesson that scientists and the villagers learnt about the benefits of mangrove forests from a real life experience.
The major disturance that I know of in present day time in Uganda is human-caused as a result of a growing population that puts tremendous pressure on the land, and the quality and quantity of forest is shrinking fast.
Close to where I live in Uganda, Mabira Central Forest Reserve has recently been in the news over plans to remove about one quarter of the old growth rainforest to make way for a sugarcane plantation. Riots and demonstrations resulted in the death of several people. You can read more about this in my forest profile......
In My region (Uruapan Mich Mexico) we have a beautiful volcano called "Paricutin", The Paricutin volcano is said to have grown out of a cornfield, and although it wasn't as cataclysmic as the fall of Pompeii, it nonetheless represent a dramatic period in the lives of the inhabitants of Paricutin, Mexico, who lost crops, livestock, and suffered substantial property damage during the natural disaster. The Paricutin is the most recent volcano to have formed on the Western Hemisphere, and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Please look at www.paricutin.com and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin
Post a Comment