Understorey succession after burial by tephra from Mount St. Helens

Successional change following disturbance is a fundamental ecological process that remains central to understanding patterns in plant ecology. Although succession has been studied for well over a century, understanding of the patterns and processes of change is still inadequate, partly because of the dearth of long‐term studies. Here, we use, as a model system, a volcanic disturbance that is widespread and of global relevance. We examine...