Steppe up? Steppe down!

!!!OH NO!!! Volcanic Eruption in Steppe!!! 

     On April 21st, a volcanic eruption broke out in Steppe. This intense eruption produced lava/ash/mud, which destroyed large amounts of plants and animals and severely damaged the Food Web of Steppe. Both lava and ash can be immediately detrimental to plant life by covering and burning the plants. Additionally, plants covered in ash will be unable to perform photosynthesis and respiration. Also, the explosion during the eruption caused wide-ranged fire on the steppe. As a result, most of the plants on the steppe were killed. However, not only plants were killed, but also animals were disturbed by the change in their daily routine as ash cover could make it look like evening, and breathing may be more difficult due to the release of tephra and volcanic gas such as sulfur dioxide. Yet, animals that were not scared away from the noise and temperature change may leave the area to seek food or uncontaminated water sources.
     On the other hand, the volcanic eruption also caused the drastically increase of the temperature in the steppe. Volcanic activity can drastically raise the temperature in an area, which may directly affect the ability of a plant to survive, especially if the plants are located near the path of lava flow. Pyroclastic materials can reach up to 1,500 degrees (National Park Service). In addition, volcanic dust blasted into the atmosphere caused temporary cooling. The amount of cooling depended on the amount of dust put into the air, and the duration of the cooling depended on the size of the dust particles; yet, these particles had little effect on the climate. Tiny dust-size ash particles thrown into the lower atmosphere would float around for hours or days, causing darkness and cooling directly beneath the ash cloud, but these particles were quickly washed out of the air by the abundant water and rain present in the lower atmosphere. However, dust tossed into the dry upper atmosphere, the stratosphere, could remain for weeks to months before they finally settle. These particles blocked sunlight and cause some cooling over large areas of the earth.

      Nevertheless, there were some positive effects of volcanic eruption on the steppe. When the volcano erupted it threw out a lot of ash. At short notice this ash could be very harmful to the environment, but on the long term the ash layer, which contained many useful minerals would be converted to a very fertile soil. The main good effect that volcanoes have on the environment was to provide nutrients to the surrounding soil. Furthermore, this suddenly intense eruption of volcano would force some organisms to adapt to the new environment in order to survive. For example, some plants on the steppe were adapted to occasional wild fire that even if the parts of the plant above ground were burnt, their roots could resprout after the fire. Also, some even required fire to carry out their germination process. Thus, these plants were probably able to survive the fire caused by the volcanic eruption and revived after a short time (The same as the animals). 

Source from:
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/photos/lengai/feb07/image12.html 

Source from:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/climatechanging/climatescienceinfozone/ 

Source from:
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/photos/strombolian_eruptions/image7.html

Work Cited
Effects on the Environment
http://www.stfrancis.edu/content/ns/bromer/earthsci/student9/Web%20PageMichAmand/Michelle.htm

Lauren, Daniella. "How Do Volcanoes Affect Pants & Animals." eHow.com. Web.

Volcanoes & Climate, Exploring the Environment.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vclimate.html