Short-term changes in soil properties after prescribed fire and mulching with fern in Mediterranean forests

Prescribed fire is commonly used to reduce the wildfire risk in Mediterranean forests, but the soil’s hydrological response after fire is contrasting in literature experiences. The mulch treatment can limit the increases in runoff and erosion in the short term after a fire. The use of fern is preferable to straw, due its large availability in forests. However, no experiences of post-fire treatment with fern mulch have been found in the literature and therefore the mulching effectiveness has not been evaluated. This study has measured water infiltration rate (IR) and water repellency (SWR) using a rainfall simulator in three Mediterranean forest stands (pine, oak and chestnut) of Calabria (Southern Italy) after a prescribed fire and mulching treatment with fern in comparison to unburned soil. Prescribed fire reduced water infiltration in all forests in the short term compared to the unburned conditions, and increased SWR in pine and oak forests. These reductions in IR in the time window of disturbance after fire increased the runoff generation capacity in all soils, but had a lower effect on peak flows. However, soil mulching with fern limited the runoff rates and peak flows compared to the burned soils, but this treatment was less effective in pine forest. One year after fire, IR increased in burned soils (treated or not) over time, and SWR disappeared. The effects of mulching have disappeared after some months from fire. The study confirms the usefulness of mulching in broadleaves forest in the short term, in order to control the hydrological effects of prescribed fire in Mediterranean forests. Both post-fire management techniques should be instead adopted with caution in conifer forests.

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Do alter post-wildfire straw mulching application and salvage logging pine natural regeneration after wildfires?

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3384 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽

Cristina Fernández ◽

Pedro Antonio Plaza- Alvárez ◽

Javier González-Romero ◽

Esther Peña-Mollina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Seedling Growth ◽

Natural Regeneration ◽

Seedling Recruitment ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Mediterranean Forests ◽

Seedling Density ◽

Short Term ◽

Salvage Logging ◽

Pine Species

<p>Mulching application and salvage logging are often performed in forests after fire to recover timber values and avoid soil erosion. These post-fire practices are believed to positively and negatively impact soil properties and initial seedling recruitment or seedling growth in pine stands. Mulch may increase soil moisture and lower soil temperature, which thus promotes seedling recruitment, whereas logging operations may generate soil compaction and destroy seedlings. As Mediterranean forests are delicate ecosystems, and different pine species or contrasting microclimate conditions (semiarid vs. subhumid Mediterranean climates) can display several natural regeneration trends, we investigated whether mulching combined with logging significantly alters soil properties, initial seedling recruitment and seedling growth in burned Pinus halepensis (Lietor) and Pinus pinaster (A Gudi&#241;a) stands in the short term. Our results demonstrated that soil organic matter and total nitrogen were the only soil parameters affected by treatments at site Li&#233;tor. Monitoring activity confirmed that regardless of tree felling or not, mulch treatment improved seedling density in the short term with a semiarid Mediterranean climate. At Li&#233;tor, seedling density was over 40% higher when mulching was applied, whereas aerial seedling length was the only seedling variable affected by this treatment. Conversely, the mulching+logging combination showed the highest seedling density, which could be related with more light availability after tree felling and the almost null effect of employed logging machinery. The harsh conditions at Li&#233;tor due to the limited water and light demands of pine species when water resources were ensured at site A Gudi&#241;a could be decisive for understanding the effect of mulching and logging operations for initial seedling recruitment. Our results generally suggest short-term soil changes and contrasting initial seedling recruitments after mulch and logging in burned semiarid and subhumid Mediterranean pine forests.&#160;</p><p>&#160;</p>

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Characterizing Growing Season Length of Subtropical Coniferous Forests with a Phenological Model

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12010095 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

Yuan Gong ◽

Christina L. Staudhammer ◽

Susanne Wiesner ◽

Gregory Starr ◽

Yinlong Zhang

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Water ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Water Availability ◽

Longleaf Pine ◽

Growing Season ◽

Soil Water Availability ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Short Term ◽

Phenological Model

Understanding plant phenological change is of great concern in the context of global climate change. Phenological models can aid in understanding and predicting growing season changes and can be parameterized with gross primary production (GPP) estimated using the eddy covariance (EC) technique. This study used nine years of EC-derived GPP data from three mature subtropical longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States with differing soil water holding capacity in combination with site-specific micrometeorological data to parameterize a photosynthesis-based phenological model. We evaluated how weather conditions and prescribed fire led to variation in the ecosystem phenological processes. The results suggest that soil water availability had an effect on phenology, and greater soil water availability was associated with a longer growing season (LOS). We also observed that prescribed fire, a common forest management activity in the region, had a limited impact on phenological processes. Dormant season fire had no significant effect on phenological processes by site, but we observed differences in the start of the growing season (SOS) between fire and non-fire years. Fire delayed SOS by 10 d ± 5 d (SE), and this effect was greater with higher soil water availability, extending SOS by 18 d on average. Fire was also associated with increased sensitivity of spring phenology to radiation and air temperature. We found that interannual climate change and periodic weather anomalies (flood, short-term drought, and long-term drought), controlled annual ecosystem phenological processes more than prescribed fire. When water availability increased following short-term summer drought, the growing season was extended. With future climate change, subtropical areas of the Southeastern US are expected to experience more frequent short-term droughts, which could shorten the region’s growing season and lead to a reduction in the longleaf pine ecosystem’s carbon sequestration capacity.

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Changes in soil properties and salt tolerance of safflower in response to biochar-based metal oxide nanocomposites of magnesium and manganese

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety ◽

10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.111904 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 211 ◽

pp. 111904

Author(s):

Salar Farhangi-Abriz ◽

Kazem Ghassemi-Golezani

Keyword(s):

Salt Tolerance ◽

Metal Oxide ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Changes In Soil Properties

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Changes in soil properties and plant biodiversity after 12 years of rehabilitating livestock farms in the Hyrcanian Forests

Agroforestry Systems ◽

10.1007/s10457-021-00658-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Seyed Mohammad Hojjati ◽

Asieh Darzi ◽

Hamed Asadi ◽

Mahya Tafazoli

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Plant Biodiversity ◽

Hyrcanian Forests ◽

Livestock Farms ◽

Changes In Soil Properties

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Soil-vegetation relationships in Mediterranean forests after fire

Forest Ecosystems ◽

10.1186/s40663-021-00295-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Víctor Fernández-García ◽

Elena Marcos ◽

Sara Huerta ◽

Leonor Calvo

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Mediterranean Ecosystems ◽

Fire Effects ◽

Mediterranean Forests ◽

Vegetation Growth ◽

Burned Areas ◽

Vegetation Height ◽

P Content ◽

Study Sites ◽

Soil Status

Abstract Background Wildfires are one of the major environmental concerns in Mediterranean ecosystems. Thus, many studies have addressed wildfire impacts on soil and vegetation in Mediterranean forests, but the linkages between these ecosystem compartments after fire are not well understood. The aim of this work is to analyze soil-vegetation relationships in Mediterranean burned forests as well as the consistency of these relationships among forests with different environmental conditions, at different times after fire, and among vegetation with different functional traits. Results Our results indicate that study site conditions play an important role in mediating soil-vegetation relationships. Likewise, we found that the nature of soil-vegetation relationships may vary over time as fire effects are less dominant in both ecosystem compartments. Despite this, we detected several common soil-vegetation relationships among study sites and times after fire. For instance, our results revealed that available P content and stoichiometry (C:P and N:P) were closely linked to vegetation growth, and particularly to the growth of trees. We found that enzymatic activities and microbial biomass were inversely related to vegetation growth rates, whereas the specific activities of soil enzymes were higher in the areas with more vegetation height and cover. Likewise, our results suggest that resprouters may influence soil properties more than seeders, the growth of seeders being more dependent on soil status. Conclusions We provide pioneer insights into how vegetation is influenced by soil, and vice-versa, in Mediterranean burned areas. Our results reflect variability in soil-vegetation relationships among study sites and time after fire, but consistent patterns between soil properties and vegetation were also detected. Our research is highly relevant to advance in forest science and could be useful to achieve efficient post-fire management.

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