Long-term frequent prescribed fire decreases surface soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a wet sclerophyll forest of Southeast Queensland, Australia

Bushra Muqaddas; Xiaoqi Zhou; Tom Lewis; Clyde Wild; Chengrong Chen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.023

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Long-term frequent prescribed fire decreases surface soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a wet sclerophyll forest of Southeast Queensland, Australia

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Long-term frequent prescribed fire decreases surface soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a wet sclerophyll forest of Southeast Queensland, Australia

Bushra Muqaddas, Xiaoqi Zhou, Tom Lewis, Clyde Wild and Chengrong Chen

Science of the Total Environment, Vol.536, pp.39-47

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.023

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Abstract

burning frequencies

HCl hydrolysis

KMnO4 oxidation

charcoal

Prescribed fire is one of the most widely-used management tools for reducing fuel loads in managed forests.However the long-term effects of repeated prescribed fires on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate how different fire frequency regimes influence C and N pools in the surface soils (0-10 cm). A prescribed fire field experiment in awet sclerophyll forest established in 1972 in southeast Queensland was used inthis study. The fire frequency regimes included long unburnt (NB), burnt every 2 years (2yrB) and burnt every 4 years (4yrB), with four replications. Comparedwith theNB treatment, the 2yrB treatment lowered soil total C by 44%, total N by 54%, HCl hydrolysable C and N by 48% and 59%, KMnO4 oxidizable C by 81%, microbial biomass C and N by 42% and 33%, cumulative CO2-C by 28%, NaOCl-non-oxidizable C and N by 41% and 51%, and charcoal-C by 17%, respectively. The 4yrB and NB treatments showed no significant differences for these soil C and N pools. All soil labile, biologically active and recalcitrant and total C and N poolswere correlated positivelywith each other andwith soil moisture content, but negatively correlatedwith soil pH. The C:N ratios of different C and N poolswere greater in the burned treatments than in the NB treatments. This study has highlighted that the prescribed burning at four year interval is a more sustainable management practice for this subtropical forest ecosystem.

Details

Title: Long-term frequent prescribed fire decreases surface soil carbon and nitrogen pools in a wet sclerophyll forest of Southeast Queensland, Australia
Authors: Bushra Muqaddas (Author) - Griffith University
Xiaoqi Zhou (Author) - Griffith University
Tom Lewis (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Clyde Wild (Author) - Griffith University
Chengrong Chen (Author) - Griffith University
Publication details: Science of the Total Environment, Vol.536, pp.39-47
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.023
ISSN: 0048-9697
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449227802621
Output Type: Journal article

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