Short-term changes in infiltration between straw mulched and non-mulched soils after wildfire in Mediterranean forest ecosystems

Abstract Water infiltration is a basic parameter to understand the hydrological response of semi-arid or arid soils – where runoff generation is dominated by infiltration-excess – subjected to wildfire. To evaluate the hydrological effects of straw application on a sandy loam soil after wildfire, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water content and temperature of mulched and nonmulched (considered as control) soils were monitored throughout eight months. Compared to untreated soils, straw maintained higher temperatures and water contents in mulched plots, but reduced their unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, particularly in the drier season. These results suggest that straw release may lead to a decrease of water infiltration capacity of soils subjected to wildfire, with particular evidence in summer in the case of heavy storm occurrence.

[1]  R. Carsel,et al.  Developing joint probability distributions of soil water retention characteristics , 1988 .

[2]  A. Cerda,et al.  Fire Effects on Soils and Restoration Strategies , 2009 .

[3]  R. Lal,et al.  Mulching effects on selected soil physical properties , 2008 .

[4]  J. Keizer,et al.  Mid-term and scaling effects of forest residue mulching on post-fire runoff and soil erosion. , 2016, The Science of the total environment.

[5]  A. Walkley,et al.  AN EXAMINATION OF THE DEGTJAREFF METHOD FOR DETERMINING SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, AND A PROPOSED MODIFICATION OF THE CHROMIC ACID TITRATION METHOD , 1934 .

[6]  Peter R. Robichaud,et al.  Current research issues related to post-wildfire runoff and erosion processes , 2013 .

[7]  B. Rudolf,et al.  World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated , 2006 .

[8]  Lee H. MacDonald,et al.  Effectiveness of forest residue mulching in reducing post-fire runoff and erosion in a pine and a eucalypt plantation in north-central Portugal , 2012 .

[9]  S. González-Prieto,et al.  Straw mulching is not always a useful post-fire stabilization technique for reducing soil erosion , 2016 .

[10]  C. Fernández,et al.  Comparing the effectiveness of seeding and mulching + seeding in reducing soil erosion after a high severity fire in Galicia (NW Spain) , 2015 .

[11]  J. Keizer,et al.  Hydrologic Implications of Post‐Fire Mulching Across Different Spatial Scales , 2016 .

[12]  Ranz,et al.  World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated — Source link , 2006 .

[13]  D. W. Nelson,et al.  Total Nitrogen Analysis of Soil and Plant Tissues , 1980 .

[14]  Artemi Cerdà,et al.  Changes in overland flow and infiltration after a rangeland fire in a Mediterranean scrubland , 1998 .

[15]  Enrique Jiménez,et al.  Testing the ability of visual indicators of soil burn severity to reflect changes in soil chemical and microbial properties in pine forests and shrubland , 2012, Plant and Soil.

[16]  P. Robichaud,et al.  A comparison of surface runoff and sediment yields from low- and high-severity site preparation burns , 1994 .

[17]  Anònim Anònim.  Keys to Soil Taxonomy , 2010 .

[18]  Louise E. Ashmun,et al.  Evaluating the effectiveness of wood shred and agricultural straw mulches as a treatment to reduce post-wildfire hillslope erosion in southern British Columbia, Canada , 2013 .

[19]  R. Shakesby,et al.  Post-wildfire soil erosion in the Mediterranean: Review and future research directions , 2011 .

[20]  J. Alday,et al.  Mulch application as post-fire rehabilitation treatment does not affect vegetation recovery in ecosystems dominated by obligate seeders , 2014 .

[21]  C. Fernández,et al.  Are erosion barriers and straw mulching effective for controlling soil erosion after a high severity wildfire in NW Spain , 2016 .

[22]  Renduo Zhang,et al.  Determination of soil sorptivity and hydraulic conductivity from the disk infiltrometer , 1997 .

[23]  P. Tarolli,et al.  Mulching practices for reducing soil water erosion: A review , 2016 .

[24]  J. Rhoades,et al.  Determining Cation Exchange Capacity: A New Procedure for Calcareous and Gypsiferous Soils1 , 1977 .

[25]  J. Baeza,et al.  Post-Fire Management of Shrublands , 2012 .

[26]  Tom Hobby,et al.  It’s All About Relationships: First Nations and Non-Timber Resource Management in British Columbia , 2010 .

[27]  Piermaria Corona,et al.  Post-Fire Management and Restoration of Southern European Forests , 2012, Managing Forest Ecosystems.

[28]  Enrique Jiménez,et al.  Testing the effects of straw mulching and herb seeding on soil erosion after fire in a gorse shrubland , 2014 .