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Postwildfire Soil Trajectory Linked to Prefire Ecosystem Structure in Douglas-Fir Forest

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Abstract

Changes in soil C and N pools following wildfire are quite varied, but there is little understanding of the causes of the variation. We examined how the legacies of prefire ecosystem structure may explain the variation in soil trajectories during the first decade following wildfire. Five years prior to wildfire in a southwestern Oregon forest dominated by mature Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco], ecosystem structure was experimentally manipulated by thinning or clearcutting for comparison with unthinned forest. Repeated measurements of replicated experimental units were made before wildfire and during the first decade following wildfire. In the unthinned forest, the O-horizon soil C and N pools were decreased to 24–39% of prefire levels by wildfire, then increased to 53–70% during the first year postwildfire by deposition of fire-killed needles from overstory trees. The mineral soil (0–6 cm depth) C pool was decreased by wildfire, then increased in the following decade, while no change in the N pool was detected. In contrast, in the clearcut treatment, the O-horizon soil C and N pools were nearly totally consumed during the wildfire, lacked fire-killed overstory as a source of needle and fine and coarse wood inputs, but regained 20% of prefire masses in the following decade via foliar and root inputs from regenerated shrubs and herbaceous vegetation. Surface mineral soil C and N pools were decreased 35–50% by wildfire and showed no sign of recovery during the following decade. In contrast to wildfire, unburned ecosystem structures showed no changes in O horizon and increased mineral-soil N pool in the clearcut. We propose a conceptual model of soil C and N response following wildfire that includes legacy influences resulting from prefire ecosystem structures: residual live trees that generate continual litterfall and root turnover; fire-killed trees that produce needle-fall, dead roots, and fine- and coarse-wood detritus; and surviving roots and burls that contribute to postwildfire shrub regeneration. Consideration of prefire ecosystem structure and legacies in quantitative models may improve forecasts of postwildfire C budgets at stand to regional scales.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is a contribution of the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station’s Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity Program. Support for pre- and posttreatment, and postwildfire sampling and analysis came from the Research Station, the US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon (Interagency Agreement DW 12936179), the Joint Fire Sciences Program (Grants 03-2-3-09 and 10-1-10-18), Western Washington University, the National Commission for Science on Sustainable Forestry (Grant C4), and the Rogue River—Siskiyou National Forest. We acknowledge the hard work of many individuals, including former LTEP-experiment leader Mike Amaranthus; agreement leads from Oregon State University, Kermit Cromack Jr. and Mark Harmon. This work would not have happened without the professional field and laboratory assistants from past years: Tom Bell, Aurore Chauvry, Matt Cowall, Colin Edgar, Laura Fabrey, Nate France, Nick Leahy, Kristina Muscutt, Suzanne Remillard, Vannessa Spini, Chris Stevens, and Kyle Swanson; and from recent years: Amy Barnhart, Dylan Burgess, Nick Daniel, Martyn Davies, Emma Garner, Tim Martin, and Kylie Meyer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, Environmental Studies Building, Room 522 Bellingham, Washington, 98225-9181, USA

    Peter S. Homann

  2. Ecosystem Processes Program, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

    Bernard T. Bormann

  3. Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331, USA

    Brett A. Morrissette

  4. Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Baker City, Oregon, 97814, USA

    Robyn L. Darbyshire

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  1. Peter S. Homann
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  2. Bernard T. Bormann
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Correspondence to Peter S. Homann.

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Author contributions

PSH: performed research, analyzed data, wrote manuscript; BTB: designed study, performed research, contributed to manuscript; BAM: performed research, contributed to manuscript; RLD: designed study, performed research, contributed to manuscript.

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Homann, P.S., Bormann, B.T., Morrissette, B.A. et al. Postwildfire Soil Trajectory Linked to Prefire Ecosystem Structure in Douglas-Fir Forest. Ecosystems 18, 260–273 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-014-9827-8

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