How is plant recovery likely to proceed in the future?
The progressive establishment of seedlings and “filling in” of growing space between established plants will continue. The spread of trees and shrubs will continue and the developing forest will mask the evidence of the 1980 eruption. Within a few decades scattered coniferous trees such as Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) will begin to emerge from beneath the hardwood and shrub thicket. By 2100 these scattered groups of trees will begin to converge and the area will take on the appearance of a young forest. By the year 2200 much of the area be covered in mature forest as it has before, during periods of volcanic quiescence that have punctuated the 40,000 year eruptive history of the volcano.
