The Long-Term Effects of Wildfire and Post-Fire Vegetation on Sierra Nevada Forest Soils

Johnson, Dale W.; Walker, R. F.; McNulty, Michelle; Rau, Benjamin M.; Miller, W. W.

doi:10.3390/f3020398

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Consequently, the ecosystem's response was modified by short-term silvicultural treatments, which may alter vegetation distribution patterns, influence vulnerability and resilience, and could even depend on fire regimes and soil characteristics in the long-term [46,47]. Therefore, post-fire management, plant community and ecosystem structure will increase their relevance in predicted scenarios with more frequent and severe drought periods and wildfires [1].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Fire Seedling Recruitment and Morpho-Ecophysiological Responses to Induced Drought and Salvage Logging in Pinus halepensis Mill. Stands

Moya

Heras

López‐Serrano

et al. 2015

Forests

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Salvage logging is the commonest post-fire emergency action, but has unclear ecological effects. In the Mediterranean Basin, drought periods and fire regimes are changing and forest management should be adapted. In summer 2009, a mid-high severity fire burned 968 ha of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) forest in southeast Spain, which was submitted to salvage logging six months later. In spring 2010, plots were set in untreated and logged areas to monitor the recruitment and survival of the main tree species and three companion species: Stipa tenacissima L. (resprouter), Cistus clusii Dunal and Rosmarinus officinalis L. (obligate seeders). We evaluated responses to different scenarios in relation to intensification of summer droughts and forest management to obtain differences in water stress, growth, and gas exchange to cope with summer drought. Drought was induced by using rain-exclusion shelters and recorded ecophysiological characteristics were obtained with a portable gas exchange system. The main tree species recruitment was poor, but companion species showed a high survival ratio. Lower water stress was found for obligate seeder seedlings, which was higher in logged areas with induced drought. The initial post-fire stage was similar for the studied areas. However, after two drought periods (2010 and 2011), significant differences were found in the morphological and ecophysiological responses. In the unmanaged area, the biggest size of individuals due to the most marked increases in height and coverage were observed mainly in resprouter S. tenacissima. In the area submitted to salvage logging, the growth ratios in plots with induced drought were OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 1859 lower, mainly for seeders. Greater productivity was related to higher transpiration, stomatal conductance, and net photosynthetic ratio, but lower water use efficiency was found in obligate seeders with no drought induction, and S. tenacissima obtained higher values in untreated areas. Our results confirm that both forest management and intensification of summer droughts influenced the resilience and productivity of the ecosystems in the short term. Adaptive forest management after fire can imply successful survival and recovery of plant communities in the mid to long term. This study provide a scientific basis to develop tools for the post-fire restoration of serotinous pine forests occurring in low-altitudinal areas of the Mediterranean Basin, prone to summer droughts and fire events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Fire Seedling Recruitment and Morpho-Ecophysiological Responses to Induced Drought and Salvage Logging in Pinus halepensis Mill. Stands

Moya

Heras

López‐Serrano

et al. 2015

Forests

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“…This use of prescribed fire and its subsequent effects on soils and other important ecosystem properties contrasts markedly to wildfires and their associated effects [10,11]. Wildfires are typified by high fire intensity and severity caused by ignitions in long-unburned areas with heavy fuel loads, whereas frequent, prescribed fires of the southeastern Coastal Plain are generally characterized by low intensity and severity [5,[12][13][14][15] Wildfire effects on soils in long-unburned forests have been widely studied and investigated [16][17][18]. Studies across multiple continents indicate that potential outcomes of high-severity wildfires include:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineral Soil Chemical Properties as Influenced by Long-Term Use of Prescribed Fire with Differing Frequencies in a Southeastern Coastal Plain Pine Forest

Coates

Hagan

Aust

et al. 2018

Forests

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Recent studies suggest increased fire frequency may impair soil chemistry, but few studies have examined long-term effects of repeated, frequent prescribed fires on forest soil properties in the southeastern Coastal Plain, USA. In this study, forest soil chemistry at the 0–10 and 10–20 cm mineral soil depths of sandy surface horizons (Entisols and Spodosols) were compared among units burned 0, 4, 6, and 8 times between 2004 and 2015 and 0 and 20 times between 1978 and 2015 in a longleaf (Pinus palustris Mill.)–loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) pine savanna at the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center (Georgetown, SC, USA). At the 0–10 cm soil depth, soil pH (p = 0.00), sulfur (p = 0.01), calcium (p = 0.01), iron (p < 0.01), manganese (p < 0.01), and aluminum (p = 0.02) treatment means differed (2004–2015). Calcium and manganese displayed positive, significant relationships and sulfur displayed a negative, significant relationship with increasing fire frequency (p < 0.05). However, correlation of these relationships was low (r2 ≤ 0.23). Using linear contrasts to compare the mean of all fire treatments (20 fires from 1978 to 2015) to the mean of the unburned compartment, sulfur (p = 0.01) and iron (p < 0.01) were less in soils from the burned compartments. At the 10–20 cm soil depth, soil pH (p = 0.01), manganese (p = 0.04), phosphorus (p = 0.01), potassium (p = 0.02), and iron (p < 0.01) treatment means differed (2004–2015). Potassium displayed a negative, significant relationship and soil pH displayed a positive, significant relationship with increasing fire frequency (p < 0.05). Correlation of these relationships was low (r2 ≤ 0.16), however. Using linear contrasts to compare the mean of all fire treatments (20 fires from 1978 to 2015) to the unburned compartment, potassium (p = 0.00) and iron (p < 0.01) were less in soils from burned compartments. These results are inconsistent with studies suggesting that forest soil chemistry is substantially altered by increased fire frequency and support other studies from this region that have documented minimal or temporary soil chemical changes associated with frequent prescribed fires.

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“…Following stand‐replacing fires in California and Nevada, rates of N fixation of up to 40 to 70 kg N·ha −1 ·yr −1 could account for increased ecosystem N over 20 yr (Johnson et al. ). However, the lodgepole pine forests of Yellowstone have sparse cover of putative N‐fixing species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Postfire N recovery in some forests is attributed to increased cover and productivity of N-fixing organisms (e.g., lichens; free-living soil bacteria; or early successional plants with root nodule symbioses, such as Alnus, Myrica, Lupinus, and Ceonothus; Reed et al 2011, Johnson et al 2012, Maynard et al 2014, Blasko et al 2015. Following stand-replacing fires in California and Nevada, rates of N fixation of up to 40 to 70 kg NÁha À1 Áyr À1 could account for increased ecosystem N over 20 yr (Johnson et al 2012). However, the lodgepole pine forests of Yellowstone have sparse cover of putative N-fixing species.…”

Section: Potential N Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feast not famine: Nitrogen pools recover rapidly in 25‐yr‐old postfire lodgepole pine

Turner

Whitby

Romme

2019

Ecology

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The extent of young postfire conifer forests is growing throughout western North America as the frequency and size of high‐severity fires increase, making it important to understand ecosystem structure and function in early seral forests. Understanding nitrogen (N) dynamics during postfire stand development is especially important because northern conifers are often N limited. We resampled lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) stands that regenerated naturally after the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA) to ask (1) How have N pools and fluxes changed over a decade (15 to 25 yr postfire) of very rapid forest growth? (2) At postfire year 25, how do N pools and fluxes vary with lodgepole pine density and productivity? Lodgepole pine foliage, litter (annual litterfall, forest‐floor litter), and mineral soils were sampled in 14 plots (0.25 ha) that varied in postfire lodgepole pine density (1,500 to 344,000 stems/ha) and aboveground net primary production (ANPP; 1.4 to 16.1 Mg·ha−1·yr−1). Counter to expectation, foliar N concentrations in lodgepole pine current‐year and composite needles (1.33 and 1.11% N, respectively) had not changed over time. Further, all measured ecosystem N pools increased substantially: foliar N increased to 89 kg N/ha (+93%), O‐horizon N increased to 39 kg N/ha (+38%), and mineral soil percent total N (0–15 cm) increased to 0.08% (+33%). Inorganic N availability also increased to 0.69 μg N·[g resin]−1·d−1 (+165%). Thus, soil N did not decline as live biomass N pools increased. Among stands, biomass N pools at postfire year 25 remained strongly influenced by early postfire tree density: foliar and litterfall N concentrations declined with lodgepole pine density and ANPP, but the foliar N pool increased. Lodgepole pine ANPP correlated negatively with annual resin‐sorbed N, and we found no indication of widespread N limitation. The large increases in N pools cannot be explained by atmospheric N deposition or presence of known N fixers. These results suggest an unmeasured N source and are consistent with recent reports of N fixation in young lodgepole pine.

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The Long-Term Effects of Wildfire and Post-Fire Vegetation on Sierra Nevada Forest Soils

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

Post-Fire Seedling Recruitment and Morpho-Ecophysiological Responses to Induced Drought and Salvage Logging in Pinus halepensis Mill. Stands

Post-Fire Seedling Recruitment and Morpho-Ecophysiological Responses to Induced Drought and Salvage Logging in Pinus halepensis Mill. Stands

Mineral Soil Chemical Properties as Influenced by Long-Term Use of Prescribed Fire with Differing Frequencies in a Southeastern Coastal Plain Pine Forest

Feast not famine: Nitrogen pools recover rapidly in 25‐yr‐old postfire lodgepole pine

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