A volcano erased an island’s plants. Their DNA revealed how life starts over

Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have determined the genetic lineage of a now extinct plant population from Nishinoshima, a volcanic island whose frequent eruptions periodically "reset" the vegetation. While they traced the lineage to a nearby island, they discovered distinct genetic quirks due to the rarity of seeds making it there, including a "founder's effect." Their findings offer a rare glimpse into the very earliest stages of ecosystem development in an isolated environment. Nishinoshima, a part of the Ogasawara Island chain, lies approximately 1000 kilometers south of mainland Tokyo. It...