RECOVERY OF A HOT SPRING COMMUNITY FROM A CATASTROPHE

The algal mats of a number of hot springs in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park were destroyed by a brief violent hailstorm on August 30, 1967. The rate of recovery of the algal mat at Mushroom Spring was studied by quantitative methods. In the temperature range of 65-71 C a unicellular cyanophycean alga is the sole photosynthetic component. The doubling times during the recovery period for three stations were: Station I (71 C), 17 days; station II (68 C), 10.5 days; station III (65 C), 10 days. The algal mat had returned to apparently normal size by 152 days after the catastrophe. The significance of these observations for the conservation of hot spring communities is discussed.