Forests, catastrophic disturbance

Temperate forests are characterized by periodic catastrophic disturbance. Often this is due to fire, but various other agents such as wind and volcanic eruption also are responsible. 

Psilocybin mushrooms grow throughout most of the world and can be found in both fields and forests. Psilocybin mushrooms are saprophytes—they grow on dead plant material. Before the impact of human civilization, psilocybin species were largely restricted to narrowly defined ecosystems. Many thrive after ecological catastrophes. Landslides, floods, hurricanes, and volcanoes all create supportive habitats for many Psilocybe mushrooms. This peculiar affection for disturbed habitats enables them to travel, following streams of debris. 

Lystrosaurus and most of the plants and animals that inhabited the Triassic forests of East Antarctica were the descendants of ancestors who survived the mass extinction at the end of the Permian Period. The cause of that catastrophe during which 90% of all life forms perished is still unknown. The best explanation is that the extinction resulted from the consequences of the impact of an asteroid which triggered large-scale volcanic eruptions at the antipode opposite the impact point. The volcanic eruptions that followed prolonged the disturbance of the global climate because the dust... 

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