Effects of Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery on Soil Erosion in Vulnerable Montane Regions in a Monsoon Climate: A Decade of
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effects of Post‑Fire Vegetation Recovery on Soil Erosion in Vulnerable Montane Regions in a Monsoon Climate: A Decade of Monitoring Yoonmi Kim1 · Chang‑Gi Kim2 · Kyu Song Lee3 · Yeonsook Choung1 Received: 10 August 2020 / Revised: 11 September 2020 / Accepted: 13 September 2020 © Korean Society of Plant Biologist 2020
Abstract In areas with frequent fires and erosive soils under monsoon climate, we aimed to determine the long-term dynamics of soil loss during vegetation recovery and to examine elapsed time for soil stabilization. Runoff plots were installed in Pinus densiflora forests affected by stand-replacing fires on the East Coast of South Korea, which occurred in spring 2000. Runoff plots measured runoff and sediment yields for 11 years (2003–2013) during which time, vegetation cover of low-, intermediate-, and high-vegetation cover plots increased from 21 to 44%, 49% to 69%, and 87% to 95%, respectively. Vegetation was effective in preventing runoff and sediment yield. Nevertheless, to stabilize to below baseline load, it took 7 years at low and intermediate cover plots and only 3 years at high cover plots. For 7 years, 7.06 (5.2-fold) and 4.29 (3.1-fold) kg m−2 of soil were lost at the low and intermediate cover plots, respectively, compared to the high cover plots (1.37 kg m−2). Sediment loss fluctuated more than runoff following extreme rainfall events. We suggest that for the slow recovery area ( 70% cover). Keywords Forest fire · Forest management · Runoff · Pinus densiflora · Sediment yield · Soil stabilization · Vegetation regeneration
Introduction
Yoonmi Kim and Chang-Gi Kim have contributed equally to this work. * Yeonsook Choung [email protected] Yoonmi Kim [email protected] Chang‑Gi Kim [email protected] Kyu Song Lee [email protected] 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, South Korea
2
Bio‑Evaluation Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience an Biotechnology, Cheongju 28116, South Korea
3
Department of Biology, Gangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung 25457, South Korea
The temperate monsoon climate to which Korea belongs is characterized by dryness in the spring and heavy rainfall in the summer (Korea Meteorological Administration 2019). Two-thirds of forest fires in Korea occur in the spring due to prolonged drought from fall to spring and strong winds, which occur in the spring as well (Choung 2002). Forest floors, where aboveground vegetation was removed by fire, are exposed to heavy rains in summer. More than 50% of annual precipitation falls in summer. Additionally, the occurrence of typhoons often overlaps with the monsoon period (Korea Meteorological Administration 2019). Moreover, the terrain in Korea is mountainous with steep slopes where many of the forests have been devastated for a long time (Lee 2010; Choung et al. 2020). As a result, 69.2% of the soil is classified as Inceptisol and 13.7% as Entisol in South Korea (Rural Development Administration 2019). Inceptisol is defined as soi
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