Forest fires convert a small portion of burning vegetation into charred solid residues such as charcoal. A survey of Scandinavian forest soils reveals that charcoal has a highly patchy distribution, and a shorter-than-expected lifetime.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
ANDERS GRANSTRÖM
References
Flannigan, M., Stocks, B., Turetsky, M. & Wotton, M. Glob. Change Biol. 15, 549–560 (2009).
Gillett, N. P., Weaver, A. J., Zwiers, F. W. & Flannigan, M. D. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L18211 (2004).
Balshi, M. S. et al. Glob. Change Biol. 15, 1491–1510 (2009).
Malevsky-Malevich, S. P., Molkentin, E. K., Nadyozhina, E. D. & Shklyarevich, O. B. Clim. Change 86, 463–474 (2008).
Preston, C. M. & Schmidt, M. W. I. Biogeosciences 3, 397–420 (2006).
Forbes, M. S., Raison, R. J. & Skjemstad, J. O. Sci. Total Environ. 370, 190–206 (2006).
Ohlson, M., Dahlberg, B., Økland, T., Brown, K. J. & Halvorsen, R. Nature Geosci. 2, 692–695 (2009).
Balshi, M. S. et al. J. Geophys. Res. 112, G02029 (2007).
Marlon, J. R. et al. Nature Geosci. 1, 697–702 (2008).
Hammes, K. et al. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 21, GB3016 (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Preston, C. Fire's black legacy. Nature Geosci 2, 674–675 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo642
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo642
- Springer Nature Limited