Comparative Study of the Effects of Wildfire and Cultivation on Topsoil Properties in the Zagros Forest, Iran
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EGRADATION, REHABILITATION, AND CONSERVATION OF SOILS
Comparative Study of the Effects of Wildfire and Cultivation on Topsoil Properties in the Zagros Forest, Iran Sh. Rahimia, Z. Sharifia, *, **, and G. Mastrolonardob aDepartment
of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Pasdaran street, 66177-15177 Sanandaj, Iran b Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine, 28–50144 Florence, Italy *e-mail: [email protected] **e-mail: [email protected] Received March 16, 2020; revised April 1, 2020; accepted April 24, 2020
Abstract—This study compares the long-term effects of a wildfire on basic topsoil properties—bulk density, particle-size composition, pH, electrical conductivity, total C and N, inorganic C, cation exchangeable capacity, available N, P, Ca, Mg, and K—in the Zagros oak forest, Iran, with those induced by agricultural activity in a vineyard planted 30 years earlier in place of the forest. The soil, Calcaric Cambisol according to the World Reference Base, was studied in the (i) unburned forest, both inside (FI) and outside (FO) sprout clumps; (ii) burned forest, in areas subjected to high (BHI) or moderate (BMI) severity (both inside sprout clumps) and low (BLO) severity (outside sprout clumps); and (iii) vineyard, both under the foliage of vines (VI) and outside it (VO). In VI, VO, BHI and BMI most soil properties were significantly different from those of the unburned forest. A Hierarchical Cluster Analysis grouped together BHI and BMI and separated their unburned counterparts with 72% and 47% dissimilarity, respectively. The VI and VO treatments in the vineyard were closely related to each other, but separated from their unburned counterparts in the unburned forest soil with 149% and 69% dissimilarity, respectively. Overall, thirty years of farming exerted a stronger impact on the soil than a single, though severe, fire. Nevertheless, severe fire appeared to have a much more significant impact than every single yearly plowing. Keywords: fire severity, hierarchical cluster analysis, oak, forest soil, soil fertility, vineyard DOI: 10.1134/S1064229320110113
INTRODUCTION Soil is a unique natural environment providing several crucial ecosystem services, including plant growth, water storage and purification, waste decomposition and recycling, mitigation of global warming, and preservation of genetic diversity. Wildfires and cultivation may reduce the capacity of soils to play such roles. Several soil properties can be modified by fire, proportionally to its intensity and duration [34, 32, 8, 23, 20, 36, 24]. For example, Gabbasova et al. [20] reported that fire decrease the soil bulk density while simultaneously increase the soil capillary, total water capacities, organic carbon, nitrogen and ash elements (potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus). Similarly, cultivation is known to impose substantial changes to native soils [17]. Significant decreases in carbon concentration, aggregate stability, and macro-porosity
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