Comparison of soil infiltration rates in burned and unburned mountainous watersheds

Steady-state infiltration measurements were made at mountainous sites in New Mexico and Colorado, USA, with volcanic and granitic soils after wildfires and at comparable unburned sites. We measured infiltration in the New Mexico volcanic soils under two vegetation types, ponderosa pine and mixed conifer, and in the Colorado granitic soils under ponderosa pine vegetation. These measurements were made within high-severity burn areas using a portable infiltrometer with a 0Ð017 m 2 infiltration area and artificial rainfall rates ranging from 97 to 440 mm h � 1 . Steadystate infiltration rates were less at all burned sites relative to unburned sites. The volcanic soil with ponderosa pine vegetation showed the greatest difference in infiltration rates with a ratio of steady-state infiltration rate in burned sites to unburned soils equal to 0Ð15. Volcanic soils with mixed conifer vegetation had a ratio (burned to unburned soils) of at most 0Ð38, and granitic soils with ponderosa pine vegetation had a ratio of 0Ð38. Steady-state infiltration rates on unburned volcanic and granitic soils with ponderosa pine vegetation are not statistically different. We present data on the particle-size distribution at all the study sites and examples of wetting patterns produced during the infiltration experiments. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  Deborah A. Martin,et al.  THE FLUX AND PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF SEDIMENT COLLECTED IN HILLSLOPE TRAPS AFTER A COLORADO WILDFIRE , 2001 .

[2]  Lee H. MacDonald,et al.  Post‐fire runoff and erosion from simulated rainfall on small plots, Colorado Front Range , 2001 .

[3]  J. Nyhan,et al.  Soil survey of Los Alamos County, New Mexico , 1978 .

[4]  J. Hem,et al.  Geology and ground-water resources of the Los Alamos area, New Mexico , 1964 .

[5]  R. Shakesby,et al.  Soil hydrophobicity variations with depth and particle size fraction in burned and unburned Eucalypt , 1996 .

[6]  H. Keith,et al.  Effects of fire on the nutrient-supplying capacity of forest soils. , 1990 .

[7]  B. Wilcox,et al.  Tracer-based studies of soil water movement in semi-arid forests of New Mexico , 1997 .

[8]  D. A. Hamilton,et al.  Translocation of Hydrophobic Substances into Soil by Burning Organic Litter , 1970 .

[9]  I. S. Mcqueen.  Development of a hand portable rainfall-simulator infiltrometer , 1963 .

[10]  A. C. Imeson,et al.  The effects of fire and water repellency on infiltration and runoff under Mediterranean type forest , 1992 .

[11]  Peter R. Robichaud,et al.  Fire effects on infiltration rates after prescribed fire in Northern Rocky Mountain forests, USA , 2000 .

[12]  Y. Benyamini,et al.  Rainfall infiltration into bare soils , 1977 .

[13]  Intermountain Forest,et al.  Infiltration and water repellency in granitic soils , 1971 .

[14]  J. Arend.  Infiltration rates of forest soils in the Missouri ozarks as affected by woods burning and litter removal , 1941 .

[15]  A. Campbell,et al.  Physical and chemical characteristics of wood ash , 1991 .

[16]  M. Zwolinski.  Effects of Fire on Water Infiltration Rates in a Ponderosa Pine Stand , 1971 .

[17]  Mike Kirkby,et al.  Scaling up processes and models from the field plot to the watershed and regional areas. , 1996 .

[18]  V. H. Scott,et al.  Some effects of fire and ash on the infiltration capacity of soils , 1952 .

[19]  R. C. Weast.  CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics , 1973 .

[20]  G. Leavesley,et al.  Infiltration and erosion characteristics of selected tephra deposits from the 1980 eruption of Mount. St. Helens, Washington, USA , 1989 .

[21]  John L. Nieber,et al.  Modeling and field evidence of finger formation and finger recurrence in a water repellent sandy soil , 1998 .

[22]  Jay D. Miller,et al.  Forest surveys and wildfire assessment in the Los Alamos Region; 1998-1999 , 2000 .

[23]  Daniel G. Neary,et al.  Fire effects on belowground sustainability: a review and synthesis , 1999 .

[24]  Takahisa Mizuyama,et al.  Scaling hydraulic properties of forest soils , 2000 .

[25]  Fire Effects Guide , 2001 .

[26]  H. Fowells,et al.  EFFECT OF BURNING ON FOREST SOILS , 1934 .

[27]  W. C. Krumbein,et al.  Size frequency distributions of sediments , 1934 .

[28]  Leonard F. DeBano,et al.  Soil wettability: A neglected factor in watershed management , 1965 .

[29]  Y. Benyamini,et al.  The effect of fire-induced surface heterogeneity on rainfall-runoff-erosion relationships in an eastern Mediterranean ecosystem, Israel , 1995 .

[30]  J. N. Westwood,et al.  PACIFIC SOUTHWEST Forest and Range Experiment Station , 1970 .

[31]  W. C. Krumbein,et al.  Application of logarithmic moments to size-frequency distributions of sediments , 1936 .

[32]  P. Robichaud,et al.  Water repellency by laboratory burning of four northern Rocky Mountain forest soils , 2000 .

[33]  L. Debano.  Water repellent soils: a state-of-the-art , 1981 .

[34]  F. D.,et al.  The hydrological effects of fire in South African mountain catchments , 2002 .

[35]  James K. Brown,et al.  Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora , 2000 .

[36]  D. Inman,et al.  Measures for describing the size distribution of sediments , 1952 .

[37]  J. Moody,et al.  Hydrologic and sedimentologic response of two burned watersheds in Colorado , 2001 .