New islands: how life colonises them
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Version 0 of 1. The recent appearance of a new island off the coast of Japan, following an undersea volcanic eruption, was well timed. It was 50 years ago that another island was born: Surtsey. Named after a "fire giant" from Norse mythology, it appeared off the southernmost tip of Iceland on 14 November 1963, just as the Beatles were riding high in the charts and President Kennedy was planning that fateful visit to Dallas. Since then, the seas around Surtsey have begun the inevitable process of eroding it. From a maximum area of 2.7 square km (one square mile), reached at the end of the volcanic activity in 1967, Surtsey has shrunk to about half that size. The newly formed Japanese island, as yet unnamed, may not be with us for long either. Volcanologists have warned that the low-lying land may soon be eroded by the tide, and disappear beneath the wavesThese lumps of lava, though, provide biologists with the ideal opportunity to study how lifeforms colonise new pieces of land, as initially insects, then plants, and finally birds set up home there. As a child in the late 1960s, I read about Surtsey in Reader's Digest magazine and was captivated by the story of how life was beginning to arrive there. The island is usually out of bounds to visitors, but in the summer of 2002, while making a wildlife film in Iceland with Bill Oddie, we casually were given permission to visit and flown there by the Icelandic air force for a brief, two-hour visit. It was like being dropped on to another planet. The land beneath our feet was jet black – pure lava, thrown up by the eruption. It still felt stark and new, with only a few plants dotted around. The exception was the far side of the island, where a colony of gulls had made enough guano to create a forest of greenery. Just as we prepared to leave, a swallow flew over our heads – a rare visitor this far north, hawking for insects. Like all creatures there, it was a true pioneer, showing that nature will always find a way, even in the most unlikely circumstances. <em>Stephen Moss is a naturalist, writer and broadcaster</em> Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |