First experimental results of a wider-scale research activity aimed at developing collection and analysis methods of field data to evaluate the effects of fires on soil geochemistry are presented. After forest fires, soils show important transformations in their physical and chemical properties, besides modification of organic and mineral components, in relation to the intensity of fire. The experimental area is located in a hilly area of north-western Sardinia, where a human caused fire occurred in August 2013 and burned an area of 28 ha; fire severity has been moderate, according to USDA burn severity classification system. The area is mainly covered by typical Mediterranean chaparral vegetation. The climate is typically Mediterranean with water deficit conditions occurring from May through September and precipitation events mainly concentrated in autumn and winter. The mean annual rainfall is 730 mm and annual mean air temperature is 16.8 °C. After the fire, several pedological samples were collected in different period and analysed to find the variation of the geochemical elements. Only 10 elements (from a total of 63 analysed) showed a distinct reduction starting six months after fire occurring. In fact, the total content of Mn, Zn and B showed a very large increase in unburned soils, while that value was decreased by almost 50% in samples from soils after six months after fire occurring. In the coming months the sampling will be continued to clear out the evolution of the geochemical trend, and these values will be compared with those of other experimental sites to assess the variation the influence of these elements on cork plant regrowth.
Effects of a wildfire on soil properties - a case study in North Sardinia
Canu A;Ventura A;
2015
Abstract
First experimental results of a wider-scale research activity aimed at developing collection and analysis methods of field data to evaluate the effects of fires on soil geochemistry are presented. After forest fires, soils show important transformations in their physical and chemical properties, besides modification of organic and mineral components, in relation to the intensity of fire. The experimental area is located in a hilly area of north-western Sardinia, where a human caused fire occurred in August 2013 and burned an area of 28 ha; fire severity has been moderate, according to USDA burn severity classification system. The area is mainly covered by typical Mediterranean chaparral vegetation. The climate is typically Mediterranean with water deficit conditions occurring from May through September and precipitation events mainly concentrated in autumn and winter. The mean annual rainfall is 730 mm and annual mean air temperature is 16.8 °C. After the fire, several pedological samples were collected in different period and analysed to find the variation of the geochemical elements. Only 10 elements (from a total of 63 analysed) showed a distinct reduction starting six months after fire occurring. In fact, the total content of Mn, Zn and B showed a very large increase in unburned soils, while that value was decreased by almost 50% in samples from soils after six months after fire occurring. In the coming months the sampling will be continued to clear out the evolution of the geochemical trend, and these values will be compared with those of other experimental sites to assess the variation the influence of these elements on cork plant regrowth.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
