Soil chemistry and microbial activity after a surface fire in a mixed temperate forest

Year 2018, Volume: 6 Issue: 4, 1 - 13, 26.12.2018

Sepken Kaptanoğlu Çağatay Tavşanoğlu Oğuz Can Turgay

https://doi.org/10.31195/ejejfs.451884

Cited By: 2

Abstract

Fire-affected soils have recently received more attention
in soil science because some of the atmospheric CO₂ emissions have
directly been driven from soils during fires and climate change has increased
fire frequency in many ecosystems of Earth. However, low-intensity surface
fires and their effects on soil properties have been relatively less studied in
comparison to moderate to high-intensity crown fires. In this study, the effect
of a surface fire on the chemical and biological properties of soil with a
thick organic layer was investigated in a mixed forest stand dominated by Castanea sativa, Fagus orientalis and Pinus
nigra ssp. pallasiana in Bursa Province, Turkey. Soil samples were taken from
burned and unburned (control) sites in three periods: December 2011, July 2012,
and November 2013. Samples were analyzed to determine some chemical and
biological properties in the soil. We tested the effect of fire and period on
each variable by two-way ANOVA analysis. The results indicated that Nt and OM
were not affected by fire, while C / N ratio decreased. The difference between the
periods was significant as regards OM and acid phosphatase enzyme activity. Fire
resulted in a significant increase in soil pH, Ca, Mg and no significant change
in P₂O₅. Although we found that surface fires limited the
effect on soil properties, we concluded that there might be positive interactions
between increased available nutrients in the soil and the burning of soil with
relatively low severity. Prescribed fire can be proposed as a management tool to
mitigate fire risks and short-time enrichment of available soil nutrients in
these ecosystems.

Keywords

C / N ratio, enzyme activities, forest, soil nutrients

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