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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Reno, Nevada » Great Basin Rangelands Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #302460
Title: Prescribed fire and timber harvesting effects on soil carbon and nitrogen in a pine forest

Author
item ROALDSON, LAUREN - University Of Nevada
item JOHNSON, DALE - University Of Nevada
item MILLER, WATKINS - University Of Nevada
item MURPHY, JAMES - University Of Nevada
item WALKER, ROGER - University Of Nevada
item STEIN, CHAD - University Of Nevada
item GLASS, DALLAS - University Of Nevada
item Blank, Robert - Bob

Submitted to: Soil Science Society of America Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2014
Publication Date: 7/14/2014
Citation: Roaldson, L.M., Johnson, D.W., Miller, W.W., Murphy, J.D., Walker, R.F., Stein, C.M., Glass, D.W., Blank, R.R. 2014. Prescribed fire and timber harvesting effects on soil carbon and nitrogen in a pine forest. Soil Science Society of America Journal. DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2013.08.0350nafsc.

Interpretive Summary: In the Sierra Nevada, thinning and prescribed fire are common management tools to reduce fuel loads and prevent catastrophic wildfires. Our purpose was to quantify the long-term effects of prescribed fire following various harvest and understory removal treatments on several soil nutrient pools. Data were collected before, immediately after, and nine years later following a prescribed burn. All forest floor and soil samples were analyzed for nutrients (O horizon: total N; mineral soil: total N, total C, mineral N). Fuel reductions were evident nine years after the burning in the burned plots. No significant changes in total C or total N in surface (0-20 cm) mineral soils over the nine-year period. Mineral N concentrations in surface soils were greater in unburned than in burned CTL treatments after nine years. These differences were attributed to N inputs from decomposing slash and to the reduction in the biomass of N fixers by burning.

Technical Abstract: Thinning and prescribed fire are common management tools used to eliminate thick fuel loads that could otherwise facilitate and encourage a more severe catastrophic wildfire. The objective of this study was to quantify the lasting effects of prescribed fire on forest floor and soil nutrients approximately nine years after a burn occurred near Truckee, California. The study site includes a prescribed fire following various harvest and understory removal treatments: whole-tree (WTH) thinning, cut-to-length (CTL) thinning, and no thinning. Data were collected before, immediately after, and nine years later following a prescribed burn. All forest floor and soil samples were analyzed for nutrients (O horizon: total N; mineral soil: total N, total C, mineral N). Fuel reductions were evident nine years after the burning in the burned plots. No significant changes in total C or total N in surface (0-20 cm) mineral soils over the nine year period. Mineral N concentrations in surface soils were greater in unburned than in burned CTL treatments after nine years. These differences were attributed to N inputs from decomposing slash and to the reduction in the biomass of N fixers by burning.