Release of Nitrogen by Burning Light Forest Fuels

Abstract

Smokes produced by burning pine litter, green needles, and fuels of lower nitrogen content were drawn through dilute acid solutions which were then nesslerized in the presence and absence of titanous sulfate. Kjeldahl analyses of fuels and residues indicated that 62% of the nitrogen contained in pine litter and leaf materials was released by burning. No ammonia was detected in combustion gases. Only minor amounts (0.3% and less) of the nitrogen released by burning were detected by nesslerization (+TiSO4) of dilute acid solutions. We concluded that only small amounts (0.30 − 0.48 kg/ha‐1 for typical loblolly stands) of nitrogen released by forest fires could be returned to the soil via precipitation and be made available for tree growth. Most nitrogen in organic matter presumably is volatilized as nitrogen gas.

Effects of clearfell logging and clearfell logging and burning of aNothofagusforest on soil nutrient dynamics in South Island, New Zealand — changes in forest floor organic matter and nutrient status

“…Nitrogen and P losses were approximately 66 and 35%, respectively, of the content of the material consumed in CL/B and PL/B treatments. The percentage loss of N was considerably less than those reported by Grier (1972) but within the range of losses reported by other workers (Isaac & Hopkins 1937;DeBell & Ralston 1970). Most of the N would have been lost in the gaseous molecular (N2) form (DeBell & Ralston 1970;Raison et al 1984b) but a portion would have been contained in the fly ash that was observed in the convection column.…”

Nitrogen oxides from burning forest fuels examined by thermogravimetry and evolved gas analysis

“…DeBell and Ralst,on [4] concluded that 99% of the nitrogen from forest fuels was released z nitrogen gas (N2) and, therefore, was not returned to the soil as nutrients in precipitation. In a recent experiment in which coal with a low nitrogen content (O-5-2.0%) was burned at low temperature, results strongly suggested that fuel nitrogen can produce environmentally significant quantities of nitrogen oxides [ 51.…”

Early growth and nutrient dynamics of planted Pinus banksiana seedlings after slash-pile burning on a boreal forest site

“…Higher levels of extractable NO 3 -and NH 4 + (Schoch and Binkley 1986;DeLuca and Zouhar 2000), available P (Cade-Menun et al 2000), and exchangeable K, Ca and Mg (Smith 1970;Macadam 1987) usually accompany these changes. Burning may also cause loss of nutrients, particularly organic C and total N in organic matter (Baird et al 1999;Caldwell et al 2002); estimates of nitrogen volatilization range from 50 to almost 100% (DeBell and Ralston 1970;Feller 1983;Weber et al 1985;Little and Ohlmann 1988). Calcium, Mg, K and P may also be lost through erosion of fly ash (Feller 1983).…”