Kenneth Glad
New research explores how natural systems respond to extreme disruption and the factors that influence recovery. The findings offer broader insights into resilience, adaptation, and environmental change.
In the months after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were reduced to ash, many believed nothing would grow again.
Yet within a short time, green shoots began to appear among the ruins, challenging early assumptions of a lifeless future.
A review published in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology examines how plant life returned after the 1945 bombings, and why a small number of trees managed to endure one of the most extreme environments ever recorded.
Survivor trees
Among the most striking examples are the hibakujumoku, trees that survived the atomic blasts and later resumed growth.
According to the review by Gian Marco Ludovici and his co-authors, historical records and ecological surveys were brought together to identify which plant species managed to persist near the Hiroshima blast zone.
Their analysis highlights trees such as Ginkgo biloba, kurogane holly and weeping willow, with documented cases showing that some Ginkgo trees near temple grounds began producing new shoots within months – evidence the researchers interpret as a sign that protected tissues, like roots or dormant buds, survived the initial destruction and enabled regrowth.
These cases are exceptional rather than typical. The authors note that survival likely depended on a mix of factors, including partial shielding, deep root systems and sheer chance, rather than representing the fate of most vegetation.
Life underground
Before turning to broader comparisons, the review highlights what may have happened below the surface.
Buried seeds, root systems and dormant buds appear to have played a major role in the early stages of recovery.
These protected structures avoided the worst of the heat and blast, then regenerated once conditions stabilized.
Such processes resemble ecological recovery seen after wildfires or volcanic eruptions, where hidden biological reserves drive the first wave of regrowth.
In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, soil seed banks likely served as a critical reservoir for rapid recolonization.
What survival needed
The authors argue that the type of radiation exposure shaped how plants responded.
Unlike the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents, which exposed ecosystems to long-term contamination, Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced a brief but intense burst of radiation combined with extreme heat and pressure.
Because of this, plants did not have generations to gradually adjust. Instead, survival depended on traits already present.
The review describes this as “constitutive resilience,” meaning built-in biological capacity rather than newly evolved adaptation.
Still unproven
What might those built-in traits include? The paper suggests several possibilities, while stressing they remain well-informed but untested hypotheses.
These include efficient DNA repair systems, strong antioxidant defenses, and protective structures such as thick bark or shielded meristems, the tissues responsible for new growth.
Some species, including Ginkgo, are already known for high levels of protective compounds.
Ludovici and his colleagues call for modern genomic and biochemical studies to test whether these survivors had measurable advantages, or whether their persistence was largely due to favorable conditions.
The study ultimately frames Hiroshima and Nagasaki as more than historical sites. For scientists, they offer insight into how ecosystems might respond to sudden, high-impact disasters, from nuclear events to increasingly intense climate-driven disturbances.
Source: Gian Marco Ludovici et al.: The phoenix flora: Plant survival, succession, and putative adaptation in the post-atomic landscapes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology)
