His work takes place in the most devastated area on the mountain's north side, between the crater and Spirit Lake, named the Pumice Plains. Plants, animals, bacteria and organic matter were all blown away, burned or buried by rock. This plant was several kilometers from any surviving vegetation. According to Bishop this was amazing considering lupine seeds are rather large without adaptation for dispersal. The question of how the seeds were dispersed still remains.
Lupines are part of the legume family and add nitrogen to the soil enabling plant growth.
Lupines add nutrients back into the ecosystem. As a graduate student in the early '90s, I saw that the lupine weren't spreading and became interested in why. I found lupines here and there, but they weren't flourishing like the original patch. Now a lot of things like to eat lupine. I found that insects were preventing lupines from reproducing so fast.