Effects of
forest fire on soil nutrients in Turkish pine (Pinus brutia, Ten) ecosystems
Oktay Yildiz*, Derya Esen, Murat Sarginci and Bulent Toprak
Faculty of
Forestry, Duzce
University, Konuralp,
Duzce - 81620, Turkey
(Received: March 15, 2009; Revised
received: May 10,
2009; Accepted: September 18, 2009)
Abstract: Fire is a long-standing and poorly
understood component of the Mediterranean forestlands in Turkey.? Fire can alter plant composition, destroy
biomass, alter soil physical and chemical properties and reduce soil nutrient
pools.? However, fire can also promote
productivity of certain ecosystems by mineralizing soil nutrients and promoting
fast growing nitrogen fixing plant species. Fire effects on soils and ecosystems
in Turkey and Mediterranean regions are not well understood. This study, uses a retrospective space-for-time substitution to
study soil macro-nutrient changes on sites which were burned at different times
during the last 8 years. The study sites are in the Fethiye
Forest Management Directorate in the western Mediterranean Sea region of Turkey. Our
samples show 40% less Soil C, and cation exchange
capacity (CEC) at 0-20 cm soil depth two weeks after the fire. Soil C and CEC
appear to recover to pre-fire level in one year.? Concentrations of Mg were significantly lower
on new-burn sites, but returned to
pre-fire levels in one year. Total soil N concentrations one and two years
after fire were 90% higher than other sites, and total P was 9 times higher on
new-burn site than averages from other sites.?
Some implications of these results for forest managers are discussed.
Key words: Fire, Soil nutrients, Turkish pine
?????? ?PDF of full length paper is available online
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