Morteratsch and Mount St. Helens
The idea to document vegetation changes in front of Vadret da Morteratsch was born, not near a glacier, but at Mount St. Helens volcano. Its eruption in 1980 destroyed large areas of forest. In 1988 J. Alean documented the starting re-colonization of the terrain by plants, and in 2001 the photos were repeated. The material is on STROMBOLI ON-LINE in the section on Mt. St. Helens in the chapter «Life returns». The treeline is considerably lower at Mount St. Helens (1500m.a.s.l. vs. 2200m at Vadret da Morteratsch). See also the virtual climb of Mount St. Helens.