2017
DOI: 10.1038/nature24668
|View full text |Cite
|
Sign up to set email alerts
|

Fire frequency drives decadal changes in soil carbon and nitrogen and ecosystem productivity

Abstract: Fire frequency is changing globally and is projected to affect the global carbon cycle and climate. However, uncertainty about how ecosystems respond to decadal changes in fire frequency makes it difficult to predict the effects of altered fire regimes on the carbon cycle; for instance, we do not fully understand the long-term effects of fire on soil carbon and nutrient storage, or whether fire-driven nutrient losses limit plant productivity. Here we analyse data from 48 sites in savanna grasslands, broadleaf … Show more

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...
1
1
1
1

Citation Types

12
278
6
1

Year Published

2018
2018
2022
2022

Publication Types

Select...
8
1

Relationship

1
8

Authors

Journals

citations
Cited by 383 publications
(320 citation statements)
references
References 26 publications
12
278
6
1
Order By: Relevance
“…Although a significant increase in soil pH was observed in HF soils, the magnitude of this change was low (6.41 in LF vs. 6.75 in HF), suggesting that the time elapsed after the last fire was enough to dilute the immediate effects of fire and ash on the soil pH (Certini, ). In summary, it is possible that the repeated fire occurrence and the consequent loss of soil in HF could be the main limiting factors preventing forest recovery, at least at a multidecadal scale (Pellegrini et al, ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Although a significant increase in soil pH was observed in HF soils, the magnitude of this change was low (6.41 in LF vs. 6.75 in HF), suggesting that the time elapsed after the last fire was enough to dilute the immediate effects of fire and ash on the soil pH (Certini, ). In summary, it is possible that the repeated fire occurrence and the consequent loss of soil in HF could be the main limiting factors preventing forest recovery, at least at a multidecadal scale (Pellegrini et al, ).…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: < http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.19tb3dp > (Pressler et al ).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Changing fire regimes have become a significant component of global change (Flannigan et al , 2013, Moritz et al ) and have feedback potential that may exacerbate climate change (Levine et al ). Given that fire frequency is a long‐term driver of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks (Soong and Cotrufo , Pellegrini et al ), it is critical to understand the consequences of novel fire regimes for ecosystem structure, function and dynamics.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…While cerradão is initially comprised of fire-adapted tree species from the cerrado, dry forest tree species colonize this environment if propagules are available, fire remains absent and soils are sufficiently fertile. These dry forest tree species may eventually outcompete cerrado tree species, since they do not invest in fire defense (Ratajczak et al, 2017), and in the prolonged absence of fire, cerradão may transition to a dry forest if there are positive feedback cycles between forest vegetation, lack of fire and soil fertility (Silva et al, 2013;Pellegrini et al, 2014Pellegrini et al, , 2018. However, if the underlying soils remain poor and/or if there are high aluminum concentrations in the soil that do not attenuate over time, then cerrado tree species, which are adapted to infertile, aluminum-rich soils may continue to dominate the vegetation.…”
Section: Transitions Between Tropical Savanna and Dry Forestsmentioning
confidence: 99%