Effects of Forest Fire on Soil Properties
Elakiya N. *
J. K. K. Munirajah College of Agricultural Science (Affiliated to TNAU), Gobichettipalayam - 638506, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
Keerthana G.
J. K. K. Munirajah College of Agricultural Science (Affiliated to TNAU), Gobichettipalayam - 638506, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
Safiya S.
J. K. K. Munirajah College of Agricultural Science (Affiliated to TNAU), Gobichettipalayam - 638506, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
One of the most harmful challenges to our forest is fire. The impact of forest fires on soil physical properties had an emphasis on texture, bulk density, porosity, aggregate stability, and water content and repellency. Following the fire, the surface soil of the burned region had higher soil pH, total nitrogen, accessible phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium levels than the unburned area. The low intensity of the fire caused the organic matter in the soil and the litter to burn, increasing the availability of nutrients and -promoting herb regeneration and post-fire community expansion. Higher-intensity fires completely destroy soil organic matter, volatilize nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and kill microorganisms, while Mn, Mg, and other micronutrients are completely burnt at very high temperatures. Some nutrients were more readily available by the burning of soil organic matter (OM), such as N, P, and S, while others were volatilized. Controlled fire did not result in any significant changes to the nutrients or physico-chemical composition of soil and can be utilized as an efficient management technique to reduce the harm caused by wildfires to soil. Remote sensing and GIS technology are the highly advanced tools used to detect forest fires, calculate burned areas, and determination of changes in land use.
Keywords: Forest fire, soil, nutrients, water repellency, soil organic matter
How to Cite
Downloads
References
DeBano LF. The effect of fire on soil properties. Proceedings-Management and Productivity of Western-Montane Forest Soils. In: A. E. Harvey and L. H. Neuenschwander (Eds). USDA.Forest Service General Technical Report INT. 1991;280:151-156.
Certini G. Effects of fire on properties of forest soils: a review. Oecologia; 2005.
Cochrane MA, Laurance WF. Fire as a large-scale edge effect in Amazonian forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 2002;18:311–325.
Turner IM. Species loss in fragments of tropical rain forest: A review of the evidence. The Journal of Applied Ecology. 1996;33:200–209.
FSI; 2012. technical_information_series_vol1_no1.pdf (fsi.nic.in).
Saha S. Anthropogenic fire regime in a central India deciduous forest. Current science. 2002;82: 1144-1147.
Kodandapani N, Cochrane MA, Sukumar R. A comparative analysis of spatial, temporal, and ecological characteristics of forest fires in a seasonally dry tropical ecosystem in the Western Ghats, India. Forest Ecology and Management. 2008; 256:607-617.
Krishna PH, Reddy CS. Assessment of increasing threat of forest fires in Rajasthan, India using multi-temporal remote sensing data (2005-2010). Current Science. 2012;102(9):1288-1297.
Chandra S. Application of remote sensing and GIS Technology in forest fire Risk Modeling and management of forest fires: A case study in Garhwal Himalayan Region. Geo-information for Disaster management. In: Oosterom, P., Zlatanova, S. and E. (Eds.) 2005;25:1434. 516 illus, ISBN: 978-3-540-24988-7.
Kauffman JB, Steele MD, Cummings DL, Jaramillo VJ. Biomass dynamics associated with deforestation, fire, and, conversions to cattle pasture in a Mexican tropical dry forest. Forest Ecology and Management. 2003;176:1-12.
Van der Werf GR, Randerson JT, Collatz GJ, Giglio L. Carbon emissions from fires in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. Global Change Biology. 2003; 9:547-562.
Jhariya MK, Raj A. Human Welfare from Biodiversity. Agrobios Newsletter. 2014; 12(9):89-91.
Lyon L Jack, Huff Mark H, Hooper Robert G, Telfer Edmund S, Schreiner, David Scott, Smith Jane Kapler. Wildland Fire in Ecosystems Effects of Fire on Fauna. JFSP Synthesis Reports. 2000;7. Available:http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/jfspsynthesis/7
Kirkpatrick C, Conway C, Jones PB. Distribution and relative abundance of forest birds in relation to burn severity in southeastern Arizona. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 2006;70:1005–1012.
DeBano LF. Effects of fire on chaparral soils in Arizona and California and postfire management implications. On Fire and Watershed Management. 1989;55.
Alcañiz M, Outeiro L, Francos M, Farguell J, Úbeda X. Long-term dynamics of soil chemical properties after a prescribed fire in a Mediterranean forest (Montgrí Massif, Catalonia, Spain). Sci Total Environ. 2016;572:1329–1335.
Neary DG, Klopatek CC, DeBano LF. Fire effects on below ground sustainability: A review and synthesis. Forest Ecology and Management. 1999;122:51-71.
Ulery AL, Graham RC. Forest fire effects on soil color and texture. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 1993:57(1): 135-140.
Nardoto GB, Bustamante MMDC. Effects of fire on soil nitrogen dynamics and microbial biomass in Savannas of Central Brazil. Pesq. Agropec. Bras. 2003;38(8): 955-962.
Pierson FB, Robichaud PR, Moffet CA, Spaeth KE, Williams CJ, Hardegree SP, Clark PE. Soil water repellency and infiltration in coarse-textured soils of burned and unburned sagebrush ecosystems. Catena. 2008;74(2):98-108.
Creighton M. Litton Creighton M. Litton Rómulo Santelices Moya Rómulo Santelices Moya. Early post-fire succession in a Nothofagus glauca forest in the Coastal Cordillera of south-central Chile. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 2002;11(2). DOI: 10.1071/WF02039.
Weninger T, Filipović V, Mešić M, Clothier B, Filipović L. Estimating the extent of fire induced soil water repellency in Mediterranean environment. Geoderma. 2019;338:187–196.
Wells WG. Some effects of brushfires on erosion processes in coastal Southern California. Erosion and Sediment Transport in Pacific Rim Steep lands, Christchurch, New Zealand. International Association of Hydrological Sciences, Christchurch, New Zealand. 1981;132: 305–342.
Hosseini M, Geissen V, González-Pelayo O, Serpa D, Machado AI, Ritsema C, Keizer JJ. Effects of fire occurrence and recurrence on nitrogen and phosphorus losses by overland flow in maritime pine plantations in north-central Portugal. Geoderma. 2017;289: 97-106.
Granged AJ, Jordán A, Zavala LM, Muñoz-Rojas M, Mataix-Solera J. Short-term effects of experimental fire for a soil under eucalyptus forest (SE Australia). Geoderma. 2011;167:125-134.
Jordán A, Zavala LM, Mataix-Solera J, Nava AL, Alanís N. Effect of fire severity on water repellency and aggregate stability on Mexican volcanic soils. CATENA. 2011;84(3):136–147.
Heydari M, Rostamy A, Najaf F, Dey DC. Effect of fire severity on physical and biochemical soil properties in Zagros oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forests in Iran. J for Res. 2017;28(1):95–104.
Wieting C, Ebel BA, Singha K. Quantifying the effects of wildfire on changes in soil properties by surface burning of soils from the boulder creek critical zone observatory. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies. 2017;13:43-57.
Lucas-Borja ME, Ortega R, Miralles I, Plaza-Álvarez PA, González-Romero J, Peña-Molina E, Moya D, Zema DA, Wagenbrenner JW, De las Heras J. Effects of wildfire and logging on soil functionality in the short-term in Pinus halepensis Mill. forests. Eur J for Res. 2020;139: 935–945.
Fernández-García V, Miesel J, Baeza, MJ, Marcos E, Calvo L. Wildfire effects on soil properties in fire-prone pine ecosystems: Indicators of burn severity legacy over the medium term after fire. Applied Soil Ecology. 2019;135:147-156.
Valzano FP, Grene RSB, Murphy BW. Direct effects ofstubble burning on soil hydraulic and physical properties in a direct drill tillage system. Soil and Tillage Res. 1997;42:209–19.
Fatubarin AR, Olojugba MR. The influences of forest fire on the vegetation and some soil properties of a savanna ecosystem in Nigeria. Journal of Soil Science and Environmental Management. 2014;5(2):28-34.
Naidu CV, Srivasuki KP. Effect of forest fire on soil characteristics in different areas of Seshachalam hills. Annals of Forestry. 1994;2:166–173.
Hernandez T, Garcia C, Reinhardt I. Short-term effect of wildfire on the chemical, biochemical and microbiological properties of Mediterranean pine forest soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 1997;25,109-116.
Available:https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740050289.
Verma S, Singh D, Singh AK, Jayakumar S. Post-fire soil nutrient dynamics in a tropical dry deciduous forest of Western Ghats, India. Forest Ecosystems. 2019; 6(1):6. Available: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-019-0168-0.
Litton CM, Santelices. Effect of wildfire on soil physical and chemical properties in a Nothofagus glauca forest, Chile. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural. 2003;76(4): 529-542.
Lal R. Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma. 2004;123:1-22.
Nabatte P, Nyombi K. Effect of pine plantation surface fires on soil chemical properties in Uganda. Research Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences. 2013; 6063. ISSN: 2320.
Johnson DW. Effects of forest management on soil carbon storage. Water Air Soil Pollut. 1992; 64:83-120.
Huseyin Ekinci. Effect of Forest Fire on Some Physical, Chemical and Biological Properties of Soil in Çanakkale, Turkey. International Journal of Agriculture & Biology. 2006;8(1):102-106.
Lee WK, Choi K. Oh MY. Effect of forest fire on soil properties and vegetation. The Research Reports of the Forestry Research Institute (Korea Republic);1988.
Covington WW, Sackett SS. The effect of a prescribed burn in southwestern ponderosa pine on organic matter and nutrients in woody debris and forest floor. Forest Science. 1984;30(1):183-192.
Alban DH. Influence on soil properties of prescribed burning under mature red pine. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station. 1977;139.
Martín A, Díaz‐Raviña M, Carballas T. Short‐and medium‐term evolution of soil properties in Atlantic forest ecosystems affected by wildfires. Land Degradation & Development. 2012;23(5): 427-439.
Badia D, Marti C. Fire and rainfall energy effects on soil erosion and runoff generation in semi-arid forested lands. Arid Land Research and Management. 2008;22(2):93-108.
Rundel PW. Impact of fire on nutrient cycles in Mediterranean-type ecosystems with reference to chaparral. In: Kruger, F.J., D.T.Mitchell, J.U.M. Jarvis, (Eds.), Mediterranean-type Ecosystems: The Role of Nutrients Springer. 1983;192–207. Berlin SAS Institute, 1997.
Kutiel P, Inbar M. Fire impacts on soil nutrients and soil erosion in a Mediterranean pine forest plantation. Catena. 1993;20(1-2):129-139.
Vishvamitera S, Sharma U, Guleria A. Fluctuations in soil nutrients and physico-chemical properties following controlled fire in North-Western Himalayas. Environment Conservation Journal. 2022;23(1&2):283-289.
Johnson DW, Curtis PS. Effects of forest management on soil C and N storage: Meta analysis. Forest Ecology and Management. 2001;140(2-3):227-238.
Zhang Y, Biswas A. The effects of forest fire on soil organic matter and nutrients in boreal forests of North America: a review. Adaptive Soil Management: From Theory to Practices. 2017;465-476.
Rahimi S, Sharifi Z, Mastrolonardo G. Comparative study of the effects of wildfire and cultivation on topsoil properties in the zagros forest, Iran. Eurasian Soil Science. 2020;53:655-1668.
Alexakis D, Kokmotos I, Gamvroula D, Varelidis G. Wildfire effects on soil quality: Application on a suburban area of West Attica (Greece). Geosciences Journal. 2021;25:243-253.
DeBano LF, Conrad CE. The effect of fire on nutrients in a chaparral ecosystem. Ecology.1978; 59(3):489-497.
Maynard DG, Paré D, Thiffault E, Lafleur B, Hogg KE, Kishchuk B. How do natural disturbances and human activities affect soils and tree nutrition and growth in the Canadian boreal forest?. Environmental Reviews. 2014;22(2):161-178.
James JA, Kern CC, Miesel JR. Legacy effects of prescribed fire season and frequency on soil properties in a Pinus resinosa forest in northern Minnesota. Forest ecology and management. 2018;415: 47-57.
Caon L, Vallejo VR, Ritsema CJ, Geissen V. Effects of wildfire on soil nutrients in Mediterranean ecosystems. Earth-Science Reviews. 2014;139:47-58.
Renbuss MA, Chilvers GA, Pryar LD. Microbiology of an ash bed, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W.1973; 97:302-311.
Rashid A, Ahmed T, Ayub N. Effect of forest fire on number, viability and post-fire reestablishment of arbuscular mycorrhizae. Mycorrhiza.1970;7:217-220.
Knelman JE, Graham EB, Trahan NA, Schmidt SK, Nemergut DR. Fire severity shapes plant colonization effects on bacterial community structure, microbial biomass, and soil enzyme activity in secondary succession of a burned forest. Soil Biol Biochem. 2015;90:161–1.
Moya D, González-De Vega S, Lozano E, García-Orenes F, Mataix-Solera J, Lucas-Borja ME, De Las HJ. The burn severity and plant recovery relationship affect the biological and chemical soil properties of Pinus halepensis Mill. stands in the short and mid-terms after wildfire. J Environ Manage. 2019;235:250–256.
Akburak S, Son Y, Makineci E, Çakir M. Impacts of low-intensity prescribed fire on microbial and chemical soil properties in a Quercus frainetto forest. J For Res. 2018;29(3):687–696.
DeBano LF, Neary DG, Ffolliott PF. Fire’s effects on ecosystems. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, USA; 1998.
Mikita-Barbato RA, Kelly JJ, Tate RL III. Wildfire effects on the properties and microbial community structure of organic horizon soils in the New Jersey Pinelands. Soil Biol Biochem. 2015;86:67–76.
Wang L, Fu Q. Soil quality assessment of vegetation restoration after a large forest fire in Daxing’anling, northeast China. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. 2020;100(2):162-174.
James CE, Krumland B. Immediate post–forest fire salvage logging, soil erosion, and sediment delivery. Forest Science. 2018;64(3):246-267.
Yang Y, Tilman D, Furey G. Soil carbon sequestration accelerated by restoration of grassland biodiversity. Nat Commun. 2019:10:718. Available:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08636-w.