Summary In A ugust 2008, K asatochi volcano erupted and buried a small island in pyroclastic deposits and fine ash; since then, microbes, plants and birds have begun to re‐colonize the initially sterile surface. Five years post‐eruption, bacterial 16S r RNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) copy numbers and extracellular enzyme activity ( EEA ) potentials were one to two orders of magnitude greater in pyroclast...