Ecological resilience and biodiversity dynamics of an island forest following a volcanic eruption

• MARÍA GUERRERO CAMPOS ^[5] ; PATRICIA MARRERO ^[5] ; FÉLIX M. MEDINA ^[6] ; RAFAEL GARCÍA BECERRA ; JOSÉ CARLOS MIRANDA ^[1] ; SILVIA FAJARDO ^[2] ; CARL BEIERKUHNLEIN ^[3] ; FRANK WEISER ^[3] ; ANNA WALENTOWITZ ^[3] ; ANKE JENTSCH ^[3] ; TANIA DOMÍNGUEZ FLORES ^[4] ; VINCENT WILKENS ^[3] ; VÍCTOR CHANO ^[4] ; MANUEL NOGALES ^[7]
  1. [1] Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

     Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

     Madrid, España

     
  2. [2] Gobierno de Canarias

     Gobierno de Canarias

     Santa Cruz de Tenerife, España

     
  3. [3] University of Bayreuth

     University of Bayreuth

     Kreisfreie Stadt Bayreuth, Alemania

     
  4. [4] University of Göttingen

     University of Göttingen

     Landkreis Göttingen, Alemania

     
  5. [5] Área de Medio Ambiente, Gestión y Planeamiento Territorial y Ambiental (Gesplan S.A.)
  6. [6] Unidad de Biodiversidad, Cabildo Insular de La Palma
  7. [7] Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA-CSIC)

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• Localización: Cosmológica, ISSN 2792-7423, Nº. Extra 1 (Conferencia Internacional: Erupción del Tajogaite (Los Llanos de Aridane, noviembre de 2025)), 2025, págs. 505-507
• Idioma: inglés
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  • Volcanic eruptions constitute complex and extreme disturbances, with multifaceted impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. The 2021 Tajogaite eruption (La Palma, Canary Islands), which lasted for 85 days, provided a unique opportunity to study early successional processes across taxonomic groups in an insular forest ecosystem. This study investigates the spatio-temporal patterns of biotic recovery within the Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis) forest through a two-year monitoring effort encompassing flora and fauna across a 7 km gradient from the eruption crater. Using twelve 30 × 30 m plots subjected to varying tephra deposition, we analyzed species richness, abundance, regeneration capacity, and ecological interactions. Vegetation surveys revealed a progressive increase in plant diversity with distance from the crater, with endemic woody species exhibiting significant resilience (Beierkuhnlein et al., 2023), while P. canariensis generated epicormic resprouting even under sustained exposure to volcanic stress. However, long-term survivorship near the crater was limited by sustained high soil temperatures, gas emissions, and disruption of water availability. Herbaceous species and seedling recruitment were largely absent within 400 m of the crater, with seed bank viability affected by tephra thickness (Medina et al., 2025)...