The effect of different severity of fire on soil organic matter and aggregates stability

Abstract

DOI: 10.15414/afz.2015.18.01.01–05

Received 09. January 2015 ǀ Accepted 16. MArch 2015 ǀ Available online 31. March 2015

Fire affects many of physical, chemical and biological soil properties directly by the transport of the heat to the soil or indirectly because of the vegetation changes and dynamic of nutrients and organic matter. This impact depends on many factors therefore the aim of this study was to consider the impact of different severity of fire on the changes in quantity and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil structure in sandy dystrict Fluvisol. The samples were taken in the Zbehy district (autumn 2012) from three localities: 1. unburned soil – the control, 2. Higher severity of fire, and 3. Lower severity of fire. The results showed the increase of SOM content due to higher severity of fire; on the other hand, the SOM quality was decreased. The stability of water-stable aggregates was clearly decreased because of higher fire-severity. Overall, our results indicate that the breakdown of soil structure was affected by higher severity of fire.

Keywords: fire, stability of water-stable aggregates, soil structure