Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile

Effects of a wildfire on soil chemical and physical properties in a Nothofagus glauca (Phil.) Krasser forest in the Coastal Mountain Range of south-central Chile were investigated. Response of the soil during the first two years following a wildfire was examined, where data from soil in a burned for...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	LITTON,CREIGHTON M., SANTELICES,RÓMULO
Lenguaje:	English
Publicado:	Sociedad de Biología de Chile 2003
Materias:	Nothofagus glauca soil chemical properties soil physical properties wildfire
Acceso en línea:	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2003000400001
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:scielo:S0716-078X2003000400001
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:scielo:S0716-078X20030004000012004-03-24Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, ChileLITTON,CREIGHTON M.SANTELICES,RÓMULO Nothofagus glauca soil chemical properties soil physical properties wildfire Effects of a wildfire on soil chemical and physical properties in a Nothofagus glauca (Phil.) Krasser forest in the Coastal Mountain Range of south-central Chile were investigated. Response of the soil during the first two years following a wildfire was examined, where data from soil in a burned forest were compared to that in an adjacent, unburned stand. The effects that wildfire have on soil properties in this highly fragmented ecosystem are not well understood, but results from this study suggest similar responses to those found in other mediterranean forest systems. Both physical (bulk density, percent soil moisture, and soil organic matter content) and chemical properties (exchangeable inorganic nitrogen, extractable phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, and soil pH) were examined, and data presented here suggest that soil properties vary in their initial response to fire in this ecosystem. Soil organic matter content and soil moisture decreased following fire and remained lower than values from unburned plots for the duration of the study. Exchangeable potassium increased initially after burning, but values in burned plots decreased with time and by the end of two years were significantly lower than in unburned soil. In turn, extractable phosphorus and soil pH both increased immediately following wildfire and values in burned plots remained significantly higher than unburned plots for the entire measurement period. Exchangeable inorganic nitrogen reached higher levels in soil of burned plots for the autumn measurements (April 1997 and 1998) and lower values in burned plots for the spring measurements (November 1997 and 1998). Soil bulk density remained unchanged following fire. In general, changes in soil properties following fire were greatest at the 0-5 cm layer and more modest at the 5-10 cm sampling depth. These changes were related primarily to oxidation of the detrital layer during fire and concurrent changes in the soil environment following fire (e.g., a reduction in organic matter content of the soil, decreased soil moisture, and increased soil pH). The results of this study have implications for the productivity and sustainable management of the native forest remnants that remain in this regioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSociedad de Biología de ChileRevista chilena de historia natural v.76 n.4 20032003-12-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2003000400001en10.4067/S0716-078X2003000400001
institution	Scielo Chile
collection	Scielo Chile
language	English
topic	Nothofagus glauca soil chemical properties soil physical properties wildfire
spellingShingle	Nothofagus glauca soil chemical properties soil physical properties wildfire LITTON,CREIGHTON M. SANTELICES,RÓMULO Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
description	Effects of a wildfire on soil chemical and physical properties in a Nothofagus glauca (Phil.) Krasser forest in the Coastal Mountain Range of south-central Chile were investigated. Response of the soil during the first two years following a wildfire was examined, where data from soil in a burned forest were compared to that in an adjacent, unburned stand. The effects that wildfire have on soil properties in this highly fragmented ecosystem are not well understood, but results from this study suggest similar responses to those found in other mediterranean forest systems. Both physical (bulk density, percent soil moisture, and soil organic matter content) and chemical properties (exchangeable inorganic nitrogen, extractable phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, and soil pH) were examined, and data presented here suggest that soil properties vary in their initial response to fire in this ecosystem. Soil organic matter content and soil moisture decreased following fire and remained lower than values from unburned plots for the duration of the study. Exchangeable potassium increased initially after burning, but values in burned plots decreased with time and by the end of two years were significantly lower than in unburned soil. In turn, extractable phosphorus and soil pH both increased immediately following wildfire and values in burned plots remained significantly higher than unburned plots for the entire measurement period. Exchangeable inorganic nitrogen reached higher levels in soil of burned plots for the autumn measurements (April 1997 and 1998) and lower values in burned plots for the spring measurements (November 1997 and 1998). Soil bulk density remained unchanged following fire. In general, changes in soil properties following fire were greatest at the 0-5 cm layer and more modest at the 5-10 cm sampling depth. These changes were related primarily to oxidation of the detrital layer during fire and concurrent changes in the soil environment following fire (e.g., a reduction in organic matter content of the soil, decreased soil moisture, and increased soil pH). The results of this study have implications for the productivity and sustainable management of the native forest remnants that remain in this region
author	LITTON,CREIGHTON M. SANTELICES,RÓMULO
author_facet	LITTON,CREIGHTON M. SANTELICES,RÓMULO
author_sort	LITTON,CREIGHTON M.
title	Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
title_short	Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
title_full	Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
title_fullStr	Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
title_full_unstemmed	Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile
title_sort	effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a nothofagus glauca forest, chile
publisher	Sociedad de Biología de Chile
publishDate	2003
url	http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-078X2003000400001
work_keys_str_mv	AT littoncreightonm effectofwildfireonsoilphysicalandchemicalpropertiesinanothofagusglaucaforestchile AT santelicesromulo effectofwildfireonsoilphysicalandchemicalpropertiesinanothofagusglaucaforestchile
_version_	1718439549673144320

Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile

Ejemplares similares