A unique opportunity to study Nature’s processes in restoring
the vegetation of a land swept clean by a great disaster was
afforded after the eruption of a volcano on the little island
of Krakatoa in 1883. All living organisms were destroyed. In
1886 a number of plants had already established themselves
on the devastated island, those in the interior being
remarkably different from those on the coast, ferns especially
preponderating. In 1897 further progress had been made, and in
1906 the forest trees had advanced so far as to make it evident
that within a short time the island will again be densely
forested. It is believed that the first plants to establish
themselves on the blasted soil--such as ferns, algae, mosses,
compositæ, and grasses--were borne thither by the winds, and
that ocean currents were probably agents in the importation of
seeds and fruit.--San Francisco _Bulletin_.
(2164)
=Nature’s Renewing Qualities=--See CONVERSION.
=Nature-teaching to Children=--See RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.
=Nature Witnessing to God=--See GOD REVEALED IN NATURE.