Effect of fire on physical, chemical and biological properties of soil in forest ecosystems

Subject Areas : Water and Environment

Maryam Moslehi ¹ , Hashem Habashi ² , Akram Ahmadi ³

1 - PhD Student, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Department, Gorgan University, Iran.
2 - Assistant professor, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Department, Gorgan University, Iran.
3 - PhD Student, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Department, Gorgan University, Iran.

Received: 2013-04-16 Accepted : 2013-10-02 Published : 2013-12-22

Keywords: fire, Soil Properties, Forest Ecosystems,

Abstract :

Fires are an important and common event in forest ecosystems which have a complex influence on soilcharacteristics. Changes in physical characteristics (porosity and structure degradation, increase ofrun-off and erosion), chemical (organic matter losses, caption volatilization, changes in nutritionstorage and nutrition cycle) and biological (micro fauna and macro fauna losses and changes inmicrobe population) of soil by fire could result in changes in vegetative and plant activities. Intensefire in forest with creating organic compounds with hydrophobic properties in soil result in waterprosperity decrease and decrease hydrological cycle yield. Soil, water and organisms are effectivefactors in balance and forest ecosystem sustainability that fire can degrade all of them. In this work,forest fires effects were studied on different characteristic of soil which can be effective on ecosystemhealth sustain

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