Impact of fire on soil total N content and organic C stock in beech and pine forests of central Italy
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Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali, Biologiche e Farmaceutiche (DiSTABiF), Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, via Vivaldi 43, Caserta, CE - 81100, Italy
This study is part of the BIOSFeR3a project, that aims to explore the relationship between specific and functional biodiversity at various levels: from landscape to plants, to microorganisms, with a particular focus on the functions relevant to the biogeochemical cycles that most contribute to climate change, i.e. the carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle. The ultimate goal of the BIOSFeR3a project is to investigate the mechanisms linking specific and functional diversity, connected to the resilience, resistance and recovery capacity (R3) of ecosystems, in 12 large area sites subjected to fire disturbance or fragmentation. In this context, this study analyzed the effects of fire disturbance on soil total N content and organic C stock and on POM (Particulate Organic Matter) and MAOM (Mineral-Associated Organic Matter) fractions, at different depths along soil profile (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 cm). The study was carried out in different forests of the Maiella National Park in central Italy: two beech forests (Fagus sylvatica L.), in which fire occurred in 2023, and three pine forests (Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold), in which fires occurred once (2023) or twice (2017 and 2023). In each forest an unburned undisturbed soil was also selected as control. Results showed, in beech forests, a reduction in total N content and organic C stock and in the POM and MAOM fractions, in burned soils compared to the control soils, which was more marked in the deeper soil layer (10-20 cm). In pine forests, the reduction in these parameters in burned sites was even more marked, showing a deep impact of fire on soil organic C stock in these forests.
Project “BIOdiversita' Specifica e Funzionale per la Resistenza, Resilienza e Recupero ai disturbi ed al cambiamento climatico [BIOSFeR3a]”, funded by Italian Ministry of University and Research, “National Biodiversity Future Center - NBFC PROJECT”, CUPB83C22002930006
Effetti del disturbo sui sistemi ecologici