The Nutrient Cycle - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 97

Seizing opportunity . Rosebay willowherb, also known as fireweed, is originally a forest-dwell-
ing plant whose easily disseminated downy seeds can survive for long periods in the ground.
The seeds germinate quickly after the ground is disturbed. Before human intervention began to
change the forest landscape, it was mostly found on burnt ground, as here in Muddus national
park, where blackened pine trunks bear witness to the major fire that swept the park in 2006.
Now the plant is common in clearings and along roadsides. It got its other colloquial Swedish
name—railwayman's rose—from the fact that it followed in the wake of the railway workers as
the tracks were built
better than bilberry in poor-quality soil. This, in turn, promotes humus accumula-
tion in the topsoil as spruce needles and crowberry leaves decompose more slowly
than their pine and bilberry equivalents.
Vegetation thrives in the aftermath of a fire. Plants are quick to exploit the
nutrient-rich ash, though the charcoal left behind by a blaze can remain intact for
thousands of years. Charcoal can be aged using carbon 14 dating. By examining
traces of fires on old trees and sifting the charcoal from soil samples, scientists
have charted the islands' forest-fire history. The carbon remaining after a blaze has
an impact on numerous soil processes. Carbon can bind substances that inhibit
microbial activity, thereby stimulating nutrient cycles. Nutrients attach to the char-
coal's large active surface area and thus avoid being washed away by rain. This is
why charcoal is used to neutralise contaminants ingested during food poisoning. A
bag of activated carbon is dissolved in water and given to the patient to drink. The
toxins attach to the carbon particles and can then pass harmlessly through the ali-
mentary canal.