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Long-term decrease of organic and inorganic nitrogen concentrations due to pine forest wildfire
Décroissance à long terme des concentrations d’azote organique et inorganique, attribuable au feu dans une forêt de pins
Annals of Forest Science volume 67, page 207 (2010)
Abstract
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• Growing concerns about fires and the increase of fire frequency and severity due to climate change have stimulated a large number of scientific papers about fire ecology. Most researchers have focused on the short-term effects of fire, and the knowledge about the long-term consequences of fires on ecosystem nutrient dynamics is still scarce.
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• Our aim was to improve the existing knowledge about the long-term effects of wildfires on forestlabile N concentrations. We hypothesized that fires may cause an initial decline in organic and inorganic N availability, and in the amount of microbial biomass-N; this should be followed by the recovery of pre-fire N concentrations on a long-term basis. We selected a fire chronosequence in Pinus canariensis forests on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain). These forests are under low anthropogenic atmospheric deposition, and forest management is completely lacking; wildfires are therefore the only significant disturbance. Soil samples were collected during the winter and spring at 22 burned and unburned plots.
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• Fire produced a significant decrease in microbial biomass N, mineral N and dissolved organic N. Almost 20 y after fire, pre-fire levels of N concentrations had not recovered.
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• These results demonstrate that P. canariensis forest soils have a lower resilience against fire than expected. The magnitude of these observed changes suggests that pine forest wildfires may induce long-term (2 decades) changes in soil and in plant primary production.
Résumé
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• Les préoccupations grandissantes au sujet des incendies, de l’augmentation de leur fréquence et de leur gravité attribuable aux changements climatiques ont stimulé la production d’un grand nombre d’articles scientifiques sur l’écologie des incendies. La plupart des chercheurs ont mis l’accent sur les effets à court terme de l’incendie, et les connaissances sur les conséquences à long terme des incendies sur la dynamique des éléments nutritifs de l’écosystème sont encore rares.
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• Notre objectif est d’améliorer les connaissances actuelles sur les effets à long terme des incendies sur les concentrations labiles d’azote en forêt. Nous avons émis l’hypothèse que les incendies peuvent provoquer une baisse initiale de l’azote organique et de la disponibilité de l’azote inorganique, et de la quantité de biomasse microbienne azotée, ce qui devrait être suivie par la récupération des concentrations d’azote d’avant le feu sur une base de long terme. Nous avons sélectionné une chronoséquence d’incendies dans des forêts de Pinus canariensis sur l’île de La Palma (îles Canaries, Espagne). Ces forêts sont situées sous de faibles dépôts atmosphériques d’origine anthropique, et la gestion des forêts est totalement absente ; les feux de forêt sont donc les seules perturbations importantes. Des échantillons de sol ont été recueillis au cours de l’hiver et du printemps dans 22 parcelles brûlées et non brûlées.
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• L’incendie a produit une diminution significative de la biomasse microbienne azotée, de l’azote minéral et de l’azote organique dissous. Presque 20 ans après l’incendie, les niveaux de concentrations d’azote d’avant le feu n’ont pas été récupérés.
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• Ces résultats montrent que les sols forestiers de P. canariensis ont une résilience contre le feu plus faible que prévu. L’ampleur des changements observés suggère que les feux dans les forêts de pin peuvent induire des changements à long terme (2 décades) dans les sols et dans la production primaire des plants.
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Durán, J., Rodríguez, A., Fernández-Palacios, J.M. et al. Long-term decrease of organic and inorganic nitrogen concentrations due to pine forest wildfire. Ann. For. Sci. 67, 207 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009100
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009100