Author Details

Fluctuations in soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) following controlled fire were examined for one year under four land-use systems, viz. chir pine forest (Pinus roxburghii), grassland, scrubland and non-fire site in chir pine (control) in Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, India. The experiment consisted of five replications in a factorial randomized block design. A controlled fire was set in March 2018, and soil samples were taken before and after burning at three soil depths, viz. 0–5, 5–10 and 10– 15 cm. Fire impact was rated in terms of SOC and MBC, which were found to be the lowest in the month immediately following the fire (April 2018) but started increasing in subsequent months and reached the highest at the end of the experiment, i.e. 12 months after fire; however, the remained slightly below pre-fire levels. Post-fire, SOC content was found to be the highest under unburnt chir pine site (11.9 g kg^–1 ) and the lowest (11.0 g kg^–1 ) under burnt chir pine forest. The highest per cent reduction in SOC content (1.63) post-fire was found in the surface layer (0–5 cm depth) compared to the other two depths. The unburnt chir pine forest recorded the highest MBC (181.04 µg g^–1 soil), while the lowest (138.83 µg g^–1 soil) was recorded in the scrubland. The highest MBC (167.77 µg g^–1 soil) was recorded at 5–10 cm and the lowest (162.18 µg g^–1 soil) at 10–15 cm soil depth. Unlike wildfires, post-fire negative effects of controlled burning on SOC and MBC were for a shorter period and thus, the soil recovered rapidly. Despite corresponding to a short monitoring time, these findings may add to a better understanding of the potential of controlled fire as a management tool for preventing wildfires.

Keywords

Controlled Fire, Land-Use Systems, Microbial Biomass Carbon, Soil Organic Carbon, Wildfires.

Full Text

References

Taylor, S. W. and Alexander, M. E., Field Guide to the Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia, 1996.

Vachula, R. S., Sae-Lim, J. and Russell, J. M., Sedimentary charcoal proxy records of fire in Alaskan tundra ecosystems. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 2020, 541, 109564.

Spinage, C. A., Fire part I: introduction and history. In African Ecology, Springer Geography, Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2012; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22872-8_6.

Chandra, K. K. and Bhardwaj, A. K., Incidence of forest fire in India and its effect on terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, nutrient and microbial status of soil. Int. J. Agric. For., 2015, 5(2), 69–78; 10.5923/j. ijaf.20150502.01.

Schulte-Uebbing, L. and de Vries, W., Global-scale impacts of nitrogen deposition on tree carbon sequestration in tropical, temperate, and boreal forests: a meta-analysis. Global. Change Biol., 2017, 24(2), 416–431; doi:10.1111/gcb.13862.

Si, R., Aziz, N. and Raza, A., Short and long-run causal effects of agriculture, forestry, and other land use on greenhouse gas emissions: evidence from China using VECM approach. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 2021, 28, 64419–64430; https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11356-021-15474-1.

Dixon, R. K., Solomon, A. M., Brown, S., Houghton, R. A. and Trexier, M. C. and Wisniewski, J., Carbon pools and flux of global forest system. Science, 1994, 263(5144), 185–190; 10.1126/science. 263.5144.185.

IPCC Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report (eds Core Writing Team, Pachauri, R. K. and Meyer, L. A.), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014.

Harris, N. L. et al., Global maps of twenty-first century forest carbon fluxes. Nature Climate Change, 2021, 11, 234–240; https://doi. org/10.1038/s41558-020-00976-6.

Van der Werf, G. R., Randerson, J. T., Giglio, L., Collatz, G. J., Kasibhatla, P. S. and Arellano, A. F., Interannual variability in global biomass burning emissions from 1997 to 2004. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2006, 6, 3423–3441.

Grassi, G. et al., Reconciling global-model estimates and country reporting of anthropogenic forest CO2 sinks. Nature Climate Change, 2018, 8, 914–920; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0283-x.

Lal, R., Soil C sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma, 2004, 123, 1–22; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2004.01.032.

https://fsi.nic.in/forest-report-2019?pgID=forest (accessed on 20 November 2021).

Ahmad, F., Goparaju, L. and Qayum, A., Himalayan forest fire characterization in relation to topography, socio-economy and meterology parameters in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Spat. Inf. Res., 2018; https://doi.org/10.1007/s41324-018-0175-1.

Kaye, J. P., Romanyà, J. and Vallejo, V. R., Plant and soil carbon accumulation following fire in Mediterranean woodlands in Spain. Oecologia, 2010, 164, 533–543.

Johnson, D. W. and Curtis, P. S., Effects of forest management on soil C and N storage: meta analysis. For. Ecol. Manage., 2001, 140, 227–238; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00282-6.

Pardini, G., Gispert, M. and Dunjó, G., Relative influence of wildfire on soil properties and erosion processes in different Mediterra nean environments in NE Spain. Sci. Total Environ., 2004, 328, 237–246.

Kara, O. and Bolat, I., Short-term effects of wildfire on microbial biomass and abundance in black pine plantation soils in Turkey. Ecol. Indic., 2009, 9(6), 1151–1155; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2009.01.002.

Wells, C. G., Effects of prescribed burning on soil chemical properties and nutrients availability. In Prescribed Burning Symposium Proceedings, USDA Forest Service, Asheville, NC, USA, 1971, pp. 86–97.

Campbell, C. D., Cameron, C. M., Bastias, B. A., Chen, C. G. and Cairney, J. W. G., Long term repeated burning in a wet sclerophyll forest reduces fungal and bacterial biomass and responses to carbon substrates. Soil Biol. Biochem., 2008, 40(9), 2246–2252; https://doi. org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.04.020.

Mataix-Solera, J. et al., Los incendios forestales y el suelo: un resumen de la investigación realizada por el Grupo de Edafología Ambiental de la UHM en colaboración con otros grupos. In Efectos de los incendios forestales sobre los suelos en España (eds Cerdá, A. and Mataix-Solera, J.), Estado de la cuestión visto por los científicos españoles. Càtedra de Divulgació de la Ciència Universitat de València, 2009, pp. 185–217.

Manral, V., Bargali, K., Bargali, S. S. and Shahi, C., Changes in soil biochemical properties following replacement of Ban oak forest with chir pine in Central Himalaya, India. Ecol. Process., 2020, 9, 30; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-020-00235-8.

Singh, P., Sharma, P., Kumar, U., Daverey, A. and Arunachalam, K., Effect of forest fire on soil microbial biomass and enzymatic activity in oak and pine forests of Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. Ecol. Process., 2021, 10, 29; https://doi.org/10.1186/s13717-021- 00293-6.

Thirukkumaran, M. C. and Parkinson, D., Microbial respiration, biomass, metabolic quotient and litter decomposition in a lodgepole pine forest floor amended with nitrogen and phosphorous fertilizers. Soil Biol. Biochem., 2000, 32(1), 59–66; https://doi.org/10.1016/ S0038-0717(99)00129-7.

Sadeghifar, M., Agha, A. B. and Pourreza, M., Comparing soil microbial eco-physiological and enzymatic response to fire in the semi-arid Zagros woodlands. Appl. Soil Ecol., 2020, 147, 103366; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103366.

Holden, Z. A. et al., Decreasing fire season precipitation increased recent western US forest wildfire activity, In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 2018, 201802316; doi:10. 1073/pnas.1802316115.

Girona-García, A., Badía-Villas, D., Martí-Dalmau, C., Ortiz-Perpiná, O., Mora, J., Luis, A. and Cecilia, M., Effects of prescribed fire for pasture management on soil organic matter and biological properties: a 1-year study case in the Central Pyrenees. Sci. Total Environ., 2018, 618, 1079–1087.

Zhou, X., Sun, H., Pumpanen, J., Sietiö, O. M., Heinonsalo, J., Köster, K. and Bernin Ger, F., The impact of wildfire on microbial C : N : P stoichiometry and the fungal-to bacterial ratio in permafrost soil. Biogeochemistry, 2018, 142(1), 1–17; https://doi.org/10. 1007/s10533-018-0510-6.

Singh, J. S. and Singh, S. P., Forests of Himalaya, Structure Functioning and Impact of Man, Gyanodaya Prakashan, Nainital, 1992, p. 294.

Kumar, M., Sheikh, M. A., Bhat, J. A. and Bussmann, R. W., Effect of fire on soi nutrients and under storey vegetation in Chir Pine forest in Garhwal Himalaya, India. Acta Ecol. Sin., 2013, 33, 59–63.

Brown, P. M., Bhattacharyya, A. and Shah, S. K., Potential for developing fire histories in Chir Pine (Pinus Roxburghii) forest in the Himalayan foothills. Tree-Ring Res., 2011, 67(1), 57–62.

Bowman, D. M. J. S. et al., Fire in the Earth System. Science, 324(5926), 481–484; doi:10.1126/science.1163886.

Outeiro, L., Geoestadística i gestió ambiental; estudis i aplicacions de la variabilitat espacial i temporal en sòls i aigua (Doctoral Thesis), Universitat de Barcelona, 2010.

Ubeda, X., Lorca, M., Outeiro, L. R., Bernia, S. and Castellnou, M., Effects of prescribed fire on soil quality in Mediterranean grassland (Prades Mountains, north-east Spain). Int. J. Wildland Fire, 2005, 14, 379–384.

Alcaniz, M., Ubeda, X. and Cerda, A., A 13-year approach to understand the effect of prescribed fires and livestock grazing on soil chemical properties in Tivissa, NE Iberian Peninsula. Forests, 2020, 11(9), 1013; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11091013.

Wang, Q., Zhong, M. and Wang, S., A meta-analysis on the response of microbial biomass, dissolved organic matter, respiration, and N mineralization in mineral soil to fire in forest. For. Ecol. Manage., 2012, 271, 91–97.

Guo, J., Chen, G., Xie, J., Yang, Z. and Yang, Y., Effect of heatdisturbance on microbial biomass carbon and microbial respiration in Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) forest soils. J. For. Res., 2015, 26, 933–939; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-015-0125-x.

Rao, G. R., Studies on dynamics of herbage layer in pine and khair based natural silvipastoral system in North-West Himalaya. Dissertation, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, India, 1998.

Walkley, A. J. and Black, L. A., An estimation of soil organic matter and proposed modifications of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci., 1934, 37, 29–39; 10.1097/00010694-193401000-00003.

Vance, E. D., Brookes, P. C. and Jenkinson, D. S., An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol. Biochem., 1987, 19, 703–707; https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(87)90052-6.

Panse, V. G. and Sukhatme, P. V., Statistical methods for agricultural workers, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, 2000, p. 381.

Fernández, I., Cabaneiro and Carballas, T., Organic matter changes immediately after a wildfire in an Atlantic forest soil and comparison with laboratory soil heating. Soil Biol. Biochem., 1997, 29, 1–11; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(96)00289-1.

Lavoie, M., Starr, G., Mack, M. C., Martin, T. A. and Gholz, H. L., Effects of a prescribed fire on understorey vegetation, carbon pools, and soil nutrients in a Longleaf Pine-Slash Pine forest in Florida. Nat. Areas J., 2010, 30(1), 82–94; http://dx.doi.org/10.3375/043. 030.0109.

Giovannini, G., Lucchesi, S. and Giachetti, M., The natural evolution of burned soil: a three-year investigation. Soil Sci., 1987, 143, 220–226.

Johnson, D. W., Soil properties beneath Ceanothus and pine stand in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 1995, 59, 918– 924; https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1995.03615995005900030042x.

Czimczik, C. I., Preston, C. M., Schmidt, M., Werner, R. A. and Schulze, E. D., How surface fire in Siberian Scots pine forests affects SOC in the forest floor: stocks, molecular structure, and conversion to black C (charcoal). Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 2003, 17, 1020– 1033; https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GB001956.

Knicker, H., González-Vila, F. J., Polvillo, O., González, J. A. and Almendros, G., Fire-induced transformation of C- and N-forms in different organic soil fractions from a Dystric Cambisol under a Mediterranean pine forest (Pinus pinaster). Soil Biol. Biochem., 2005, 37, 701–718; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2004.09.008.

Scharenbroch, B. C., Nix, B., Jacobs, K. A. and Bowles, M. L., Two decades of low-severity prescribed increases soil nutrient availability in a Midwestern, USA oak (Quercus) forest. Geoderma, 2012, 183– 184, 80–91; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.03.010.

Jhariya, M. K. and Singh, L., Effect of fire severity on soil properties in a seasonally dry forest ecosystem of Central India. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2021; https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03062-8.

Hobley, E. U., Zoor, L. C., Shrestha, H. R., Bennet, L. T., Weston, C. J. and Baker, T. G., Prescribed fire affects the concentration and aromaticity of soluble soil organic matter in forest soils. Geoderma, 2019, 341, 138–147; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.01.035.

Chandler, C., Cheney, P. H., Thomas, P. H., Trabaud, L. and Williams, D., Fire in Forestry, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1993.

Diaz-Ravina, M., Prieto, A., Acea, M. J. and Carballas, T., Fumigation extraction method to estimate microbial biomass in heated soils. Soil Biol. Biochem., 1992, 24, 259–264; https://doi.org/10. 1016/0038-0717(92)90227-O.

Bauhaus, J., Khanna, P. K. and Raison, R. J., The effect of fire on carbon and nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in an Australian forest soil. Aust. J. Soil Res., 1993, 31, 621–639.

Vazquez, F. J., Acea, M. J. and Carballas, T., Soil microbial populations after wildfire. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 1993, 13, 93–104; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.1993.tb00055.x.

Fritze, H., Smolander, A., Levula, T., Kitunen, V. and Malkonen, E., Wood ash fertilization and fire treatments in a scots pine forest stand effects on the organic layer, microbial biomass and microbial activity. Biol. Fertil. Soils, 1994, 17, 57–63; https://doi.org/10. 1007/BF00418673.

Prieto-Fernandez, A., Acea, M. J. and Carballas, T., Soil microbial and extractable C and N after wildfire. Biol. Fertil. Soils, 1998, 27, 132–142; https://doi.org/10.1007/s003740050411.

Choromanska, U. and DeLuca, T. H., Microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in forest mineral soils following heating: evaluation of post-fire effects. Soil Biol. Biochem., 2002, 34, 263–271; https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(01)00180-8.

Mabuhay, J. A., Nakagoshi, N. and Isagi, Y., Soil microbial biomass, abundance and diversity in a Japanese red pine forest: first year after fire. J. For. Res., 2006, 11, 165–173; https://doi.org/10. 1007/s10310-005-0201-8.

Fultz, L. M. et al., Forest wildfire and grassland prescribed fire effects on soil biogeochemical processes and microbial communities: two case studies in the semi-arid Southwest. Appl. Soil Ecol., 2016, 99, 118–128; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2015.10.023.

Ahlgren, I. F. and Ahlgren, C. E., Effects of prescribed burning on soil microorganisms in a Minnesota pine forests. Ecol., 1965, 46, 304–310; https://doi.org/10.2307/1936333.

Pietikainen, J. and Fritze, H., Microbial biomass and activity in the humus layer following burning: short-term effects of two different fires. Can. J. For. Res., 1993, 23, 1275–1285; https://doi.org/10. 1139/x93-163.

Singh, R. S., Srivastava, S. C., Raghubanshi, A. S., Singh, J. S. and Singh, S., Microbial C, N and P in dry tropical savanna: effects of burning and grazing. J. Appl. Ecol., 1991, 28, 869–878; https://doi. org/10.2307/2404213.

Username
Password
Remember me