Ambientales

Effect of wildfires on soil respiration in three typical Mediterranean forest ecosystems in Madrid, Spain C. Uribe, R. Inclán, D. M. Sánchez, M. A. Clavero, A. M. Fernández, R. Morante, A. Cardeña, A. Blanco & H. Van Miegroet
Plant and Soil An International Journal on Plant-Soil Relationships ISSN 0032-079X Plant Soil DOI 10.1007/s11104-012-1576-x

1 23

Your article is protected bycopyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science +Business Media Dordrecht. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your work, please use the accepted author’s version for posting to your own website or your institution’s repository. You may further deposit the accepted author’s version on a funder’srepository at a funder’s request, provided it is not made publicly available until 12 months after publication.

1 23

Author's personal copy
Plant Soil DOI 10.1007/s11104-012-1576-x

REGULAR ARTICLE

Effect of wildfires on soil respiration in three typical Mediterranean forest ecosystems in Madrid, Spain
C. Uribe & R. Inclán & D. M. Sánchez & M. A. Clavero & A. M. Fernández & R. Morante& A. Cardeña & A. Blanco & H. Van Miegroet

Received: 23 August 2012 / Accepted: 25 December 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Abstract Background and Aims Mediterranean forests are vulnerable to numerous threats including wildfires due to a combination of climatic factors and increased urbanization. In addition, increased temperatures and summer drought lead to increasedrisk of forest fires as a result of climate change. This may have important consequences for C dynamics and balance in these ecosystems. Soil respiration was measured over 2 successive years in Holm oak (Quercus ilex subsp. ballota; Qi); Pyrenean Oak (Quercus pyrenaica Willd; Qp); and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.; Ps) forest stands located in the area surrounding Madrid (Spain), to assess thelong term effects of wildfires on C efflux from the soil, soil

Responsible Editor: Ute Skiba. C. Uribe (*) : R. Inclán : A. M. Fernández Departamento de Medio Ambiente, CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid, Spain e-mail: carla.uribe@ciemat.es D. M. Sánchez : M. A. Clavero : R. Morante : A. Cardeña Departamento de Tecnología, CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid, Spain A. BlancoDepartamento Silvopascicultura, Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain H. Van Miegroet Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-5230, USA

properties, and the role of soil temperature and soil moisture in the variation of soil respiration. Methods Soil respiration, soil temperature, soil moisture, fine root mass, microbial biomass, biological and chemical soilparameters were compared between non burned (NB) and burned sites (B). Results The annual C losses through soil respiration from NB sites in Qi, Qp and Ps were 790, 1010, 1380 gCm−2 yr−1, respectively, with the B sites emitting 43 %, 22 % and 11 % less in Qi, Qp and Ps respectively. Soil microclimate changed with higher soil temperature and lower soil moisture in B sites after fire. Exchangeable cationsand the pH also decreased. The total SOC stocks were not significantly altered, but 6–8 years after wildfires, there was still measurably lower fine root and microbial biomass, while SOC quality changed, indicated by lower the C/N ratio and the labile carbon and a relative increase in refractory SOC forms, which resulted in lower Q10 values. Conclusions We found long term effects of wildfires onthe physical, chemical and biological soil characteristics, which in turn affected soil respiration. The response of soil respiration to temperature was controlled by moisture and changed with ecosystem type, season, and between B and NB sites. Lower post-burn Q10 integrated the loss of roots and microbial biomass, change in SOC quality and a decrease in soil moisture. Keywords Soil respiration ....