Impacts of Wildfire Frequency on Plant Recovery, Soil Properties and Water Storage in Pine Woodlands of North-Central Portugal

Abstract PurposeIncreasing wildfire frequency in Mediterranean-basin together with drought periods expansion could affect plant-soil-water dynamics processes. The goal is to assess the effects of wildfire frequency on plant recovery, soil properties, soil moisture content (SMC; %) and effective soil water content (ESWC; %) during the first hydrological year after a 2012 moderate-severity-wildfire.MethodsThis study was conducted in pine woodlands of North-central Portugal affected by 1-, 4-wildfires and unburnt (1975-2012). Soil samples were gathered from plant/bare microsites at top-mid-bottom hillslope positions to determine bulk density, soil texture, soil moisture, soil organic matter content-SOM, pF-curves (available water content-AWC, field capacity-FC, permanent wilting point-PWP) (n=54) during four dry/wet periods. Soil cover, plant recovery and soil water repellency were measured. On the burnt areas 72 sensors daily/seasonal monitored SMC and ESWC at two depths (2.5/7.5 cm) and two microsites (plant/bare). ResultsThe 1 fire hillslopes showed higher plant recovery than the 4 fires hillslopes. SOM was higher in the burnt soils (17-20%) than in the unburnt ones (12-14%). Wildfire frequency: i) increased the water stress for plants and led to both maximum and minimum values of SMC/ESWC, respectively, for the wet-/dry-seasons; ii) reduced the capacity of the soils to retain water (decreased FC/AWC, increased PWP), being more accentuated in bare microsites. ConclusionThe increasing wildfire frequency and the predicted expansion of drought periods promotes lower water availability for plants in the more frequent bare soil patches. The water-stress window of the dry season happened sooner and extended for longer as increasing wildfire frequency.

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Soil properties, phosphorus fractions and sorption after wildfire in north-central Portugal

Geoderma Regional ◽

10.1016/j.geodrs.2015.04.003 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

pp. 86-95 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

M. Otero ◽

D. Santos ◽

A.C. Barros ◽

P. Calapez ◽

P. Maia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Phosphorus Fractions ◽

North Central ◽

Central Portugal

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Climatic Zone and Soil Properties Determine the Biodiversity of the Soil Bacterial Communities Associated to Native Plants from Desert Areas of North-Central Algeria

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9071359 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 1359

Author(s):

Elisa Bona ◽

Nadia Massa ◽

Omrane Toumatia ◽

Giorgia Novello ◽

Patrizia Cesaro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Bacterial Communities ◽

Arid Environment ◽

Climatic Zone ◽

Indigenous Plants ◽

North Central ◽

The North ◽

Desert Areas ◽

Plant Microbiota ◽

Semi Arid

Algeria is the largest country in Africa characterized by semi-arid and arid sites, located in the North, and hypersaline zones in the center and South of the country. Several autochthonous plants are well known as medicinal plants, having in common tolerance to aridity, drought and salinity. In their natural environment, they live with a great amount of microbial species that altogether are indicated as plant microbiota, while the plants are now viewed as a “holobiont”. In this work, the microbiota of the soil associated to the roots of fourteen economically relevant autochthonous plants from Algeria have been characterized by an innovative metagenomic approach with a dual purpose: (i) to deepen the knowledge of the arid and semi-arid environment and (ii) to characterize the composition of bacterial communities associated with indigenous plants with a strong economic/commercial interest, in order to make possible the improvement of their cultivation. The results presented in this work highlighted specific signatures which are mainly determined by climatic zone and soil properties more than by the plant species.

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The role of land management practices in soil erosion hazard in eucalypt stands in north-central Portugal following forest wildfires

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2006.08.306 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 234 ◽

pp. S187

Author(s):

J.J. Keizer ◽

M. Malvar ◽

J. Nunes ◽

J. Silva ◽

C. Coelho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Land Management ◽

Management Practices ◽

North Central ◽

Erosion Hazard ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Forest Wildfires

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The nodular granite of Castanheira, north central Portugal: origin of the nodules and evidence for diapiric mobilization of granite

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s001675680000981x ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 130 (2) ◽

pp. 145-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R. J. Reavy ◽

D. H. W. Hutton ◽

A. A. Finch

Keyword(s):

Chemical Potential ◽

Structural Data ◽

Vapour Phase ◽

Vapour Bubble ◽

North Central ◽

Host Granite ◽

Low Viscosity ◽

Granite Body ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Strong Depletion

AbstractThe Castanheira pluton in north-central Portugal is a small (1000 m × 600 m) granite body of Hercynian age which contains a remarkable abundance of granite-cored, biotite-rimmed nodules. The nodules are interpreted as representing original bubbles in the uppermost volatile-rich zone of a granitic pluton. Strong depletion in K and Rb in the host granite around the nodules suggests that the biotite is magmatic in origin. The nodules may have formed by reaction between chloroferrate(II) complexes in the vapour phase and silicate melt, possibly followed by condensation of the vapour phase to a small granitic core. Motion of the vapour bubble stabilized a gradient in chemical potential with respect to the host granite, giving rise to the nodules. Chemical, petrological and structural data suggest that the pluton was part of a larger granite body, which was forcefully emplaced during synchronous transcurrent shearing. The inferred presence of volatiles, in addition to the pervasive tourmalinization of the roof zone, suggest that the magma was halogen-rich; this may imply that the magma had low viscosity.

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Relating apparent electrical conductivity to soil properties across the north-central USA

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture ◽

10.1016/j.compag.2004.11.010 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 46 (1-3) ◽

pp. 263-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 199

Author(s):

K.A. Sudduth ◽

N.R. Kitchen ◽

W.J. Wiebold ◽

W.D. Batchelor ◽

G.A. Bollero ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electrical Conductivity ◽

Soil Properties ◽

North Central ◽

The North ◽

Apparent Electrical Conductivity ◽

Central Usa

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Post-fire mobilization of metals in a recently burnt area in North-Central Portugal: a contamination risk for waterbodies?

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-4929 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dalila Serpa ◽

Ana Machado ◽

Martha Santos ◽

Isabel Campos ◽

Fátima Jesus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Overland Flow ◽

Fire Severity ◽

Hazardous Substances ◽

Burnt Area ◽

North Central ◽

Contamination Risk ◽

Freshwater Bodies ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Study Sites

Wildfires constitute a diffuse source of contamination to aquatic ecosystems. In burnt hillslopes, ash and sediments transported by overland flow are a source of potentially hazardous substances, like metals, posing a risk for downstream water bodies. In the present study, post-fire metal mobilization by overland flow was evaluated in 16 m2 bounded plots at a eucalypt stand in Albergaria-a-Velha (Aveiro district, North-Central Portugal) that burnt with moderate severity in September 2019. Overland flow samples were collected on a weekly to bi-weekly basis, depending on the occurrence of rain, during the first 6 months after fire. Aside from overland flow samples collected at slope scale, water and sediment samples were also collected in a fire-affected stream within the Albergaria burned catchment, to assess the contamination risk posed by the fire. Samples were collected at three sites along the stream: one upstream, one within and another downstream from the burnt area, after major rainfall events. The metals analysed in this study included, vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Results showed that most metals exhibited a peak in exports immediately after the first significant post-fire rainfall event likely due to the wash-off of the ash layer and high sediment losses, but for some elements like Zn and Cu, exports were more or less constant over time. The fire seems to have had a low impact on the water quality of the affected stream, since metal concentrations were similar between the three study sites. The quality of stream sediments, on the other hand, was clearly affected by the fire, especially after the rainy season. As fire severity and frequency is forecasted to increase in the near future due to climate changes, the results of this work reinforce the importance of water managers to define adaptative strategies to effectively protect freshwater bodies.

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Characterizing the Water Storage Capacity and Hydrological Role of Mountain Peatlands in the Arid Andes of North-Central Chile

Water ◽

10.3390/w12041071 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1071 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Remi Valois ◽

Nicole Schaffer ◽

Ronny Figueroa ◽

Antonio Maldonado ◽

Eduardo Yáñez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Altitude ◽

Storage Capacity ◽

Water Storage ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

North Central ◽

Central Chile ◽

Water Storage Capacity ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Local Water

High-altitude peatlands in the Andes, i.e., bofedales, play an essential role in alpine ecosystems, regulating the local water balance and supporting biodiversity. This is particularly true in semiarid Chile, where bofedales develop near the altitudinal and hydrological limits of plant life. The subterranean geometry and stratigraphy of one peatland was characterized in north-central Chile using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and core extraction. Two sounding locations, two transversal and one longitudinal profile allowed a 3D interpretation of the bofedal’s internal structure. A conceptual model of the current bofedal system is proposed. Geophysical results combined with porosity measurements were used to estimate the bofedal water storage capacity. Using hydrological data at the watershed scale, implications regarding the hydrological role of bofedales in the semiarid Andes were then briefly assessed. At the catchment scale, bofedal water storage capacity, evapotranspiration losses and annual streamflow are on the same order of magnitude. High-altitude peatlands are therefore storing a significant amount of water and their impact on basin hydrology should be investigated further.

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Testing a novel technique, geotubes with mycotechnosoil, to mitigate post-fire erosion and enhance ecosystem recovery

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20618 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dalila Serpa ◽

Jan J. Keizer ◽

Ana I. Machado ◽

Martha Santos ◽

Bruna R. F. Oliveira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Water Quality ◽

Field Trials ◽

Catchment Scale ◽

Ecosystem Recovery ◽

North Central ◽

Monitoring Period ◽

Soil Burn Severity ◽

The Usa ◽

Central Portugal ◽

Burnt Areas

Recently burnt areas have frequently been documented to produce strong to extreme catchment-scale hydrological and erosion responses to major rainfall events, even if these responses have rarely been quantified. These responses have raised important concerns, both among forest owners and managers on the on-site implications of soil (fertility) loss and among water resources managers for the off-side impacts on downstream values-at-risk such as road and hydraulic infrastructures, flood zones, and surface water quality in reservoirs or at river intake points. State-of-the-art emergency stabilization management, as practiced in the USA and Galicia, aims at reducing the hydrological and erosion response at its main source, i.e. the hillslopes. Based on years and decades of experience and pain-staking field monitoring in both the USA and Galicia, mulching is typically preferred over barrier-based methods, especially for being more effective in the case of high-intensity rainfall storms. Even so, the LIFE-REFOREST consortium (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000248) has developed an innovative barrier-based technique that is designed to be implemented easier and faster than log and shrub barriers and, at the same time, to improve vegetation recovery, using seeds of plant species that establish vegetation strips against runoff and erosion and/or seeds of tree and shrub species for re- or afforestation. The REFOREST barriers consists of geotubes containing, besides seeds, a mycotechnosoil as well as straw. The effectiveness of the LIFE-REFOREST geotubes is current being tested under field conditions in summer-2019 burnt areas in north-central Portugal and Galicia, in contrasting forest types (eucalypt vs. pine) on contrasting parent materials (schist vs. granite). Both field trials involve, besides 3 control plots and 3 plots with geotubes, also 3 plots mulched with either eucalypt logging residues or pine needles. The present poster will show preliminary results of the field trial in north-central Portugal, in a second-rotation eucalypt stand where tree crowns were scorched by the fire and soil burn severity was classified as moderate. These results concern the initial monitoring period till early spring 2020. However, this monitoring period has been quite rainy so far, arguably providing rather ideal conditions for testing the effectiveness of barrier-based solutions such as that of LIFE-REFOREST.

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