Wildfires effects on organic matter of soils from Caramulo Mountain (Portugal): environmental implications
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Wildfires effects on organic matter of soils from Caramulo Mountain (Portugal): environmental implications Joana Ribeiro 1,2
&
Jorge Espinha Marques 2,3 & Catarina Mansilha 4,5 & Deolinda Flores 2,3
Received: 22 May 2020 / Accepted: 12 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The investigation about wildfires has demonstrated that research should include studies on the overall assessment of the processes, thus promoting the public awareness about impacts. The aim of this study is to assess the changes on the carbon content of soils affected by wildfires in Caramulo Mountain (Portugal) to therefore identify the environmental impacts arisen from those changes. Soils from different parent rocks, affected and non-affected by wildfires, were collected. Petrographic and geochemical methods were used to identify changes caused by the wildfires in the organic fraction of soils. The results demonstrate that changes in soils composition after wildfires include the production of charcoal and pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The incorporation of charcoal from biomass burning in soils overtime and the production of pyrolytic PAH are of environmental concern since these compounds are known to be harmful to the environment and ecosystems and are human carcinogens. The concentration of BkF—benzo[k]fluoranthene, known as probable human carcinogen, exceeds the reference values for contaminated soils. Once in soils these compounds can be removed by percolation affecting waters and, consequently, biodiversity and human health. Keywords Caramulo Mountain . Burned soils . Organic particles . Charcoal . PAH
Introduction Wildfires affecting forests and wooded areas all over the world, including the Mediterranean region, represent a major problem that causes significant negative impacts on ecosystems, land use, human health, and socio-economy (e.g., Ager et al. 2014). In this region, mountain soils, especially in semiarid climatic conditions, are particularly vulnerable to wildfires due to the prevailing irregular relief and continuous Responsible editor: Kitae Baek * Joana Ribeiro [email protected] 1
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
2
Institute of Earth Sciences, Porto, Portugal
3
Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Planning, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
4
National Health Institute Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal
5
REQUIMTE, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
vegetation cover, inducing erosion and soil chemical changes. Greater wildfire risk and hazard in Mediterranean mountain areas is also a consequence of low population density, which has been decreasing for decades due to a general trend of rural abandonment (e.g., Mansilha et al. 2014; Mitsopoulos et al. 2015). Southern Europe is facing an increased and extended wildfire risk due to a combination of short- and long-term factors, which favour the occurrence of large scale and catastrophic fires: (i) extreme weather conditions an
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