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25 pages, 5229 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Monitoring of Post-Fire Bedload Transport Using Hydrophone in a Small Burnt Catchment, South Korea

by Ki-Hwan Lee, Taro Uchida and Jun-Pyo Seo

Forests 2022, 13(11), 1774; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13111774 - 27 Oct 2022

Viewed by 1110

Understanding the properties of wildfire-disrupted catchments is crucial for managing river floods and landslide risks. Using a hydrophone, we investigated the changes in sediment supply conditions in small mountainous catchments (30.8 ha) in southern Korea for 6 years (March 2014–December 2019). Bedload transport [...] Read more.

Understanding the properties of wildfire-disrupted catchments is crucial for managing river floods and landslide risks. Using a hydrophone, we investigated the changes in sediment supply conditions in small mountainous catchments (30.8 ha) in southern Korea for 6 years (March 2014–December 2019). Bedload transport rates mostly increased in burned catchments 1–2 years post-wildfire (early post-fire sediment regime) but decreased 3 years post-wildfire owing to the coverage of burned slopes (late post-fire sediment regime). Landslides triggered 5 years post-wildfire increased the bedload transport rates by approximately one order of magnitude (post-landslide sediment regime). Although sediment activity decreased in wildfire-disturbed catchments after recovery of the ground-cover layer 1–3 years post-fire, thy increased during events such as landslides. Furthermore, even in undisturbed mountainous catchments (139.7 ha), bedload transport rates increased after intense rainstorm events (≥100.0 mm), with this change lasting for approximately 2 years. Our observations showed that the forest restoration after a wildfire should be planned and implemented from a min- to long-term perspective. In addition, during rainstorms, the relationship between flow and bedload transport showed large variability even in undisturbed catchments. Furthermore, surrogate monitoring using a hydrophone was useful in understanding the changes in bedload transport characteristics according to various supply conditions of the catchment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Fires as a Global Threat for the Sustainability of Soil Resources)

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15 pages, 3209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fire Damage to the Soil Bacterial Structure and Function Depends on Burn Severity: Experimental Burnings at a Lysimetric Facility (MedForECOtron)

by Daniel Moya, Teresa Fonturbel, Esther Peña, Raquel Alfaro-Sanchez, Pedro Antonio Plaza-Álvarez, Javier González-Romero, Manuel Esteban Lucas-Borja and Jorge de Las Heras

Forests 2022, 13(7), 1118; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071118 - 15 Jul 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2086

Abstract

The soil microbiota is vulnerable to burning; however, it shows some resilience. No indices have yet been developed to assess fire damage related to soil biota. We evaluated the biological soil indices recorded by a Biolog EcoPlate System in a Mediterranean ecosystem. The [...] Read more.

The soil microbiota is vulnerable to burning; however, it shows some resilience. No indices have yet been developed to assess fire damage related to soil biota. We evaluated the biological soil indices recorded by a Biolog EcoPlate System in a Mediterranean ecosystem. The experiment was carried out in an outdoor forest lysimeter facility (MedForECOtron), where we simulated burns with different burn severities. Burning increased the metabolic diversity of bacteria and most C-substrate utilization groups. Soil organic matter, phosphorus, electric conductivity, and calcium increased with increasing burn severity. Microbial richness and activity, as well as the integrated capacity of soil microbes to use a C source, lowered by burning, but recovered 6 months later. The functional diversity and amount of the C source used by microbes immediately increased after fire, and values remained higher than for unburned soils. We evaluated the changes in the vulnerability and resilience of fire-adapted ecosystems to improve their adaptive forest management. We found that the high burn severity reduced microbial richness, functional diversity, and the C source utilization of soil microbes (marked vulnerability to high temperatures), which recovered in the short term (high resilience). These results help to understand the main mechanisms of the effects of wildfire on semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems, whose field validation will be helpful for fire prevention planning and restoration of burned areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Fires as a Global Threat for the Sustainability of Soil Resources)

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15 pages, 2785 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Variation in Soil Nutrients and Plant Recovery across a Fire-Severity Gradient in Old-Growth Araucaria-Nothofagus Forests of South-Central Chile

by Andrés Fuentes-Ramirez, Leonardo Almonacid-Muñoz, Nayadeth Muñoz-Gómez and Kirk A. Moloney

Forests 2022, 13(3), 448; https://doi.org/10.3390/f13030448 - 12 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2296

Abstract

Forest fires can alter essential ecosystem processes, including soil nutrient cycling, potentially cascading into permanent vegetation changes. This is key to elucidate in ecosystems where fires are infrequent. We assessed the effects of fire severity on the spatio-temporal response of soil nutrients and [...] Read more.

Forest fires can alter essential ecosystem processes, including soil nutrient cycling, potentially cascading into permanent vegetation changes. This is key to elucidate in ecosystems where fires are infrequent. We assessed the effects of fire severity on the spatio-temporal response of soil nutrients and plant diversity in old-growth forests of south-central Chile, 1, 2, and 3 years after a fire that occurred in 2015. Within ancient, old-growth Araucaria araucana (Mol.) K. Koch and Nothofagus pumilio (Poepp. and Endl.) Krasser forests, ranging from areas burned with fire of high severity to unburned forests, we evaluated nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and soil organic matter (SOM) content using spatial interpolation to predict their spatial distribution and assessed their availability over time. We also assessed plant species richness and abundance following the fire. The availability of N noticeably increased during the first year after fire but rapidly decreased in the following years, especially in areas of high fire severity. P, K, and SOM were less affected by the fire, remaining more constant over time. In the short term, plant species richness and diversity significantly decreased in severely burned areas, but over time, they became more similar to those of the unburned forests. The time since a fire and its severity determine a heterogeneous distribution of soil nutrients, with N shifting to a significantly lower availability after fire, which was more notable in areas of high fire severity. Here, vegetation exhibited a decrease in plant diversity and the establishment of exotic species, likely producing cascading effects at the community level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Fires as a Global Threat for the Sustainability of Soil Resources)

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