Prescribed fire and soil mulching with fern in Mediterranean forests: Effects on surface runoff and erosion

2022 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 106537
Author(s):  
Bruno Gianmarco Carrà ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
Pedro Antonio Plaza-Alvarez ◽  
Daniela D'Agostino ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Bruno Gianmarco Carra ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
Adele Muscolo ◽  
Federico Romeo ◽  
...  

Climate ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Bruno Gianmarco Carrà ◽  
Daniela D’Agostino ◽  
Pietro Denisi ◽  
...  

The use of the Soil Conservation Service-curve number (SCS-CN) model for runoff predictions after rainstorms in fire-affected forests in the Mediterranean climate is quite scarce and limited to the watershed scale. To validate the applicability of this model in this environment, this study has evaluated the runoff prediction capacity of the SCS-CN model after storms at the plot scale in two pine forests of Central-Eastern Spain, affected by wildfire (with or without straw mulching) or prescribed fire and in unburned soils. The model performance has been compared to the predictions of linear regression equations between rainfall depth and runoff volume. The runoff volume was simulated with reliability by the linear regression only for the unburned soil (coefficient of Nash and Sutcliffe E = 0.73–0.89). Conversely, the SCS-CN model was more accurate for burned soils (E = 0.81–0.97), also when mulching was applied (E = 0.96). The performance of this model was very satisfactory in predicting the maximum runoff. Very low values of CNs and initial abstraction were required to predict the particular hydrology of the experimental areas. Moreover, the post-fire hydrological “window-of-disturbance” could be reproduced only by increasing the CN for the storms immediately after the wildfire. This study indicates that, in Mediterranean forests subject to the fire risk, the simple linear equations are feasible to predict runoff after low-intensity storms, while the SCS-CN model is advisable when runoff predictions are needed to control the flooding risk.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1166
Author(s):  
Bruno Gianmarco Carra ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
Pietro Denisi ◽  
Pedro Antonio Plaza-Álvarez ◽  
...  

The SCS-CN, Horton, and USLE-family models are widely used to predict and control runoff and erosion in forest ecosystems. However, in the literature there is no evidence of their use in Mediterranean forests subjected to prescribed fire and soil mulching. To fill this gap, this study evaluates the prediction capability for runoff and soil loss of the SCS-CN, Horton, MUSLE, and USLE-M models in three forests (pine, chestnut, and oak) in Southern Italy. The investigation was carried out at plot and event scales throughout one year, after a prescribed fire and post-fire soil mulching with fern. The SCS-CN and USLE-M models were accurate in predicting runoff volume and soil loss, respectively. In contrast, poor predictions of the modelled hydrological variables were provided by the models in unburned plots, and by the Horton and MUSLE models for all soil conditions. This inaccuracy may have been due to the fact that the runoff and erosion generation mechanisms were saturation-excess and rainsplash, while the Horton and MUSLE models better simulate infiltration-excess and overland flow processes, respectively. For the SCS-CN and USLE-M models, calibration was needed to obtain accurate predictions of surface runoff and soil loss; furthermore, different CNs and C factors must be input throughout the year to simulate the variability of the hydrological response of soil after fire. After calibration, two sets of CNs and C-factor values were suggested for applications of the SCS-CN and USLE-M models, after prescribed fire and fern mulching in Mediterranean forests. Once validated in a wider range of environmental contexts, these models may support land managers in controlling the hydrology of Mediterranean forests that are prone to wildfire risks.


Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Bruno Gianmarco Carrà ◽  
Giuseppe Bombino ◽  
Pietro Denisi ◽  
Pedro Antonio Plaza-Àlvarez ◽  
Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Vella Maulina Kris Putri ◽  
Agata Iwan Candra ◽  
Ahmad Ridwan

The soil has an important role in construction, namely as the loading of soil on clay. It is necessary to improve the nature of the shrinkage. The authors conducted the study to increase the strength of clay by adding wood ashes and bamboo ashes. Wood ash and bamboo ash have pozzolan properties expected to add power to clay when weighted, would drop significantly.  Material compares in this study using a mix of wood ash and bamboo ash with a variation of 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12%. Meanwhile, the clay soil is taken directly from the ravaged area, from bulging villages, from the grid district. The results showed that the soil is categorized as montmorillonite soil with properties that can damage light structures and road surface runoff. After adding wood and bamboo ash, it showed optimum results of 12% of the dry fixed test items showing a liquid limit’s value at 41,00%, plastic limit at 28,43%, and the net value of plastic limit at 12,57%. When testing for solidification using native soil at a dry volume of 7,91, gr/cm rainfall can increase by 10,42 gr/cm additives after adding 12% of wood ash and bamboo ash.Tanah memiliki peran penting dalam konstruksi yaitu sebagai pembebanan tanah pada tanah liat. Perlu untuk memperbaiki sifat penyusutan. Penulis melakukan penelitian untuk meningkatkan kekuatan tanah liat dengan cara menambahkan abu kayu dan abu bambu. Abu kayu dan abu bambu memiliki sifat pozzolan yang diharapkan dapat menambah kekuatan pada tanah liat saat tertimbang, akan turun secara signifikan. Perbandingan material dalam penelitian ini menggunakan campuran abu kayu dan abu bambu dengan variasi 0%, 4%, 8%, dan 12%. Sementara itu, tanah lempung diambil langsung dari area yang rusak, dari desa-desa yang menggembung, dari grid distrik. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa tanah tersebut dikategorikan sebagai tanah montmorillonite dengan sifat yang dapat merusak struktur ringan dan aliran permukaan jalan. Setelah dilakukan penambahan abu kayu dan bambu didapatkan hasil optimum dari 12% benda uji tetap kering yang menunjukkan nilai batas cair 41,00%, batas plastis  28,43%,   dan   nilai   bersih   batas  plastis  12,57%.   Pada pengujian solidifikasi menggunakan tanah asli pada volume kering 7,91 gr / cm curah hujan dapat meningkat sebesar 10,42 gr / cm aditif setelah penambahan 12% abu kayu dan abu bambu.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document