scholarly journals Emissions of forest floor and mineral soil carbon, nitrogen and mercury pools and relationships with fire severity for the Pagami Creek Fire in the Boreal Forest of northern Minnesota

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randall K. Kolka ◽  
Brian R. Sturtevant ◽  
Jessica R. Miesel ◽  
Aditya Singh ◽  
Peter T. Wolter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Soil Level

Forest fires cause large emissions of C (carbon), N (nitrogen) and Hg (mercury) to the atmosphere and thus have important implications for global warming (e.g. via CO2 and N2O emissions), anthropogenic fertilisation of natural ecosystems (e.g. via N deposition), and bioaccumulation of harmful metals in aquatic and terrestrial systems (e.g. via Hg deposition). Research indicates that fires are becoming more severe over much of North America, thus increasing element emissions during fire. However, there has been little research relating forest floor and mineral soil losses of C, N and Hg to on-the-ground indices of fire severity that enable scaling up those losses for larger-scale accounting of fire-level emissions. We investigated the relationships between forest floor and mineral soil elemental pools across a range of soil-level fire severities following the 2011 Pagami Creek wildfire in northern Minnesota, USA. We were able to statistically differentiate losses of forest floor C, N and Hg among a five-class soil-level fire severity classification system. Regression relationships using soil fire severity class were able to predict remaining forest floor C, N and Hg pools with 82–96% confidence. We correlated National Aeronautics and Space Administration Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer-Classic imagery to ground-based plot-scale estimates of soil fire severity to upscale emissions of C, N and Hg to the fire level. We estimate that 468 000 Mg C, 11 000 Mg of N and over 122 g of Hg were emitted from the forest floor during the burning of the 28 310 ha upland area of the Pagami Creek fire.

scholarly journals Vegetative and Edaphic Responses in a Northern Mixed Conifer Forest Three Decades after Harvest and Fire: Implications for Managing Regeneration and Carbon and Nitrogen Pools

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1040
Author(s):  
R. Kasten Dumroese ◽  
Martin F. Jurgensen ◽  
Deborah S. Page-Dumroese
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Larix Occidentalis ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Silvicultural Practices ◽  
C And N ◽  
C And N Pools

Research Highlights: This experiment compares a range of combinations of harvest, prescribed fire, and wildfire. Leveraging a 30-year-old forest management-driven experiment, we explored the recovery of woody species composition, regeneration of the charismatic forest tree species Larix occidentalis Nutt., and vegetation and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. Background and Objectives: Initiated in 1967, this experiment intended to explore combinations of habitat type phases and prescribed fire severity toward supporting regeneration of L. occidentalis. At onset of the experiment, a wildfire affected a portion of the 60 research plots, allowing for additional study. Our objective was to better understand silvicultural practices to support L. occidentalis regeneration and to better understand the subsequent impacts of silvicultural practices on C and N pools within the vegetation and soil. Materials and Methods: We categorized disturbance severity based on loss of forest floor depth; 11 categories were defined, including controls for the two habitat type phases involved. We collected abundance, biomass, and C and N concentrations for the herbaceous layer, shrubs, and trees using nested quadrats and 6 to 10 experimental units per disturbance category plot. Moreover, we systematically sampled woody residue from transects, and forest floor, soil wood, and mineral soil with a systematic grid of 16 soil cores per disturbance category plot. Results: We found that (1) disturbance severity affected shrub species richness, diversity, and evenness within habitat type phases; (2) L. occidentalis regenerates when fire is part of the disturbance; (3) N-fixing shrub species were more diverse in the hotter, drier plots; (4) recovery levels of C and N pools within the soil had surpassed or were closer to pre-disturbance levels than pools within the vegetation. Conclusions: We confirm that L. occidentalis regeneration and a diverse suite of understory shrub species can be supported by harvest and prescribed fire, particularly in southern and western aspects. We also conclude that these methods can regenerate L. occidentalis in cooler, moister sites, which may be important as this species’ climate niche shifts with climate change.

The effect of fire severity on ash, and plant and soil nutrient levels following experimental burning in a boreal mixedwood stand

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Johnston ◽  
Julie Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Fire Ecology ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Rubus Idaeus ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Heat Output ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Whole Tree

The Boreal Mixedwood Ecosystem Study near Thunder Bay, Ontario is a multi-disciplinary investigation of the impacts of harvesting and fire on the structure and function of a boreal mixed-wood ecosystem. The fire component comprises a set of treatments in which fire severity was manipulated by adjusting fuel loadings through a variety of harvesting techniques, and also included fire in standing timber. Intensive fuel sampling before and after the fire enabled detailed determinations of fuel consumption, heat output and forest floor reduction. Nutrient concentrations in ash, soil, and plant tissue following the fire were compared with fire severity in order to quantify potential nutrient inputs and their relationship to the amount of biomass consumed during the fire. Forest floor and woody fuel consumption varied significantly among treatments, with the most important factor being whether or not the stand had been harvested previous to the fire. The pH was highest and P concentrations among the lowest in the ash of unharvested blocks. Nutrient concentrations of the remaining forest floor and upper mineral soil were weakly related to the treatments. Forest floor P concentrations were highest on whole-tree harvested and lowest on uncut blocks. Whole-tree harvested blocks also had the highest pH values in forest floor and mineral soil. Concentrations of N, P, and Mg in the foliage of Populus tremuloides Michx. and Rubus idaeus L. were higher on unharvested burned than cut and burned plots, and were negatively correlated with the depth of forest floor reduction. These results indicate that fire severity plays a role in determining the extent of nutrient enrichment following fire, and may be important in influencing long-term site productivity. Key words: Fire severity, forest fire, nutrient cycles, soil chemistry, fire ecology

scholarly journals Patterns of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen fluxes in deciduous and coniferous forests under historic high nitrogen deposition

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2743-2758 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sleutel ◽  
J. Vandenbruwane ◽  
A. De Schrijver ◽  
K. Wuyts ◽  
B. Moeskops ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Organic Carbon ◽  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Soil Solution ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
High Nitrogen ◽  
Leaching Losses

Abstract. Numerous recent studies have indicated that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) play an important role in C and N cycling in natural ecosystems, and have shown that N deposition alters the concentrations and fluxes of dissolved organic substances and may increase leaching losses from forests. Our study was set up to accurately quantify concentrations and flux patterns of DOC, DON and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in deciduous and coniferous forest in Flanders, Belgium, under historical high nitrogen deposition. We measured DOC, DON and DIN concentrations at two weekly intervals in a silver birch (SB) stand, a corsican pine (CP) stand and a pine stand with higher N deposition (CPN), and used the SWAP model (calibrated with PEST) for generating accurate water and matter fluxes. The input with precipitation was an important source of DON, but not for DOC. Release of DOC from the forest floor was minimally affected by forest type, but higher N deposition (CPN stand) caused an 82% increase of DOC release from the forest floor. Adsorption to mineral soil material rich in iron and/or aluminum oxyhydroxides was suggested to be the most important process removing DOC from the soil solution, responsible for substantial retention (67–84%) of DOC entering the mineral soil profile with forest floor leachate. Generally, DON was less reactive (i.e. less removal from the soil solution) than DOC, resulting in decreasing DOC/DON ratios with soil depth. We found increased DOC retention in the mineral soil as a result of higher N deposition (84 kg ha−1 yr−1 additional DOC retention in CPN compared to CP). Overall DON leaching losses were 2.2, 3.3 and 5.0 kg N yr−1 for SB, CP and CPN, respectively, contributing between 9–28% to total dissolved N (TDN) leaching. The relative contribution to TDN leaching from DON loss from SB and CP was mainly determined by (large) differences in DIN leaching. The large TDN leaching losses are alarming, especially in the CPN stand that was N saturated.

When It's Hot, It's Hot... Or Maybe It's Not! (Surface Flaming May Not Portend Extensive Soil Heating)

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
RA Hartford ◽  
WH Frandsen
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Fire Effects ◽  
Fire Intensity ◽  
Surface Moisture ◽  
Long Duration ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Duration Of Heating

Fire effects on aplant community, soil, and air are not apparent when judged only by surface fire intensity. The fire severity or fire impact can be described by the temperatures reached within the forest floor and the duration of heating experienced in the vegetation, forest floor, and underlying mineral soil. Temporal distributions of temperatures illustrate heat flow in duff and mineral soil in three instrumented plots: two with slash fuel over moist duff and one with litter fuel over dry duff. Fires in the two slash fuel plots produced substantial flame lengths but minimal heating in the underlying mineral soil. In contrast, smoldering combustion in the dry duff plot produced long duration heating with nearly complete duff consumption and lethal temperatures at the mineral soil surface. Moisture content of duff and soil were key variables for determining f i e impact on the forest floor.

scholarly journals Patterns of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) fluxes in deciduous and coniferous forests under historic high nitrogen deposition

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 7133-7173 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sleutel ◽  
J. Vandenbruwane ◽  
A. De Schrijver ◽  
K. Wuyts ◽  
B. Moeskops ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Organic Carbon ◽  
Nitrogen Deposition ◽  
Soil Solution ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Mineral Soil ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
High Nitrogen ◽  
Leaching Losses

Abstract. Numerous recent studies have indicated that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) play an important role in C and N cycling in natural ecosystems, and have shown that N deposition alters the concentrations and fluxes of dissolved organic substances and may increase leaching losses from forests. Our study was set up to accurately quantify concentrations and flux patterns of DOC, DON and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in deciduous and coniferous forest in Flanders under historical high nitrogen deposition. We measured DOC, DON and DIN concentrations at two weekly intervals in a silver birch (SB) stand, a corsican pine (CP) stand and a pine stand with higher N deposition (CPN), and used the SWAP model (calibrated with PEST) for generating accurate water and matter fluxes. The input with precipitation was an important source of DON, but not for DOC. Release of DOC from the forest floor was minimally affected by forest type, but higher N deposition (CPN stand) caused an 82% increase of DOC release from the forest floor. Adsorption to mineral soil material rich in iron and/or aluminum oxyhydroxides was suggested to be the most important process removing DOC from the soil solution, responsible for substantial retention (67–84%) of DOC entering the mineral soil profile with forest floor leachate. Generally, DON was less reactive (i.e. less removal from the soil solution) than DOC, resulting in decreasing DOC/DON ratios with soil depth. We found increased DOC retention in the mineral soil as a result of higher N deposition (84 kg N ha−1 yr−1 additional DOC retention in CPN compared to CP). Overall DON leaching losses were 2.2, 3.3 and 5.0 kg N ha−1 yr−1 for SB, CP and CPN, respectively, contributing between 9–28% to total dissolved N (TDN) leaching. DON loss from SB and CP was not much higher than from unpolluted forests, and its relative contribution to TDN leaching was mainly determined by (large) differences in DIN leaching. The large TDN leaching losses are alarming, especially in the CPN stand that was N saturated.

scholarly journals Short-Term Effects of Fire Severity on Vegetation Based on Sentinel-2 Satellite Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Aru Han ◽  
Song Qing ◽  
Yongbin Bao ◽  
Li Na ◽  
Yuhai Bao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Dynamic Change ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Event ◽  
Vegetation Dynamic ◽  
Area Index ◽  
Sentinel 2

An important component in improving the quality of forests is to study the interference intensity of forest fires, in order to describe the intensity of the forest fire and the vegetation recovery, and to improve the monitoring ability of the dynamic change of the forest. Using a forest fire event in Bilahe, Inner Monglia in 2017 as a case study, this study extracted the burned area based on the BAIS2 index of Sentinel-2 data for 2016–2018. The leaf area index (LAI) and fractional vegetation cover (FVC), which are more suitable for monitoring vegetation dynamic changes of a burned area, were calculated by comparing the biophysical and spectral indices. The results showed that patterns of change of LAI and FVC of various land cover types were similar post-fire. The LAI and FVC of forest and grassland were high during the pre-fire and post-fire years. During the fire year, from the fire month (May) through the next 4 months (September), the order of areas of different fire severity in terms of values of LAI and FVC was: low > moderate > high severity. During the post fire year, LAI and FVC increased rapidly in areas of different fire severity, and the ranking of areas of different fire severity in terms of values LAI and FVC was consistent with the trend observed during the pre-fire year. The results of this study can improve the understanding of the mechanisms involved in post-fire vegetation change. By using quantitative inversion, the health trajectory of the ecosystem can be rapidly determined, and therefore this method can play an irreplaceable role in the realization of sustainable development in the study area. Therefore, it is of great scientific significance to quantitatively retrieve vegetation variables by remote sensing.

Rainfall-associated chronic N deposition induces higher soil N2O emissions than acute N inputs in a semi-arid grassland

2021 ◽  
Vol 304-305 ◽  
pp. 108434
Author(s):  
Yujie Shi ◽  
Junfeng Wang ◽  
Ya'nan Li ◽  
Jinwei Zhang ◽  
Yunna Ao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
N Deposition ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals The short life of the volcanic island New Late’iki (Tonga) analyzed by multi-sensor remote sensing data

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Plank ◽  
Francesco Marchese ◽  
Nicola Genzano ◽  
Michael Nolde ◽  
Sandro Martinis
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Volcanic Island ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Satellite Sensors ◽  
Resolution Imaging

AbstractSatellite-based Earth observation plays a key role for monitoring volcanoes, especially those which are located in remote areas and which very often are not observed by a terrestrial monitoring network. In our study we jointly analyzed data from thermal (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer MODIS and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite VIIRS), optical (Operational Land Imager and Multispectral Instrument) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (Sentinel-1 and TerraSAR-X) satellite sensors to investigate the mid-October 2019 surtseyan eruption at Late’iki Volcano, located on the Tonga Volcanic Arc. During the eruption, the remains of an older volcanic island formed in 1995 collapsed and a new volcanic island, called New Late’iki was formed. After the 12 days long lasting eruption, we observed a rapid change of the island’s shape and size, and an erosion of this newly formed volcanic island, which was reclaimed by the ocean two months after the eruption ceased. This fast erosion of New Late’iki Island is in strong contrast to the over 25 years long survival of the volcanic island formed in 1995.

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