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Effects of wildfire and logging on soil functionality in the short-term in Pinus halepensis M. forests

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Abstract

Salvage logging is thought to have negative impacts on soil functionality because it may increase soil compaction and reduce vegetation cover and soil organic matter content. We investigated whether and to what extent burning and subsequent logging initially altered soil functionality of a Mediterranean forest of Pinus halepensis M. Soil functionality indicators (e.g. soil enzyme activities, basal soil respiration, glomalin-related soil protein, and microbial carbon) were measured in March and October 2017 in unburned forest plots, nearby plots severely burned by wildfire in July 2016, and nearby burned plots severely burned by wildfire and then logged in December 2016 using a lightweight agricultural tractor. The results showed significant differences among three groups: unburned soils sampled in spring (1) and autumn (2), and burned soils (not subject or subject to logging) sampled in spring and autumn. In unburned plots, seasonality had a significant effect, which disappeared in burned plots regardless of whether they had been logged. The burned plots had higher content of organic matter and total nitrogen than the unburned soils but they were not correlated to higher soil respiration or microbial biomass. There were not any differences in any of the soil functionality indicators between the unlogged and logged burned plots. In addition, the burned plots had a higher glomalin-related soil protein content than the unburned soil in the autumn measurement. Overall, the results suggest a short-term wildfire impact of soil properties whereas logging using a lightweight tractor produced no significant impacts in this sparse Mediterranean pine forest.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funds provided to the VIS4FIRE Spanish R&D Project (RTA2017-00042-C05-00) co-funded by the INIA and FEDER program. Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness Research Projects, BIORESOC (CGL2017-88734-R) and FEDER-Junta de Andalucía Research Project RESTAGRO (UAL18-RNM-A021-B) provided financial support aid in this article. Isabel Miralles is grateful for funding received from the Ramón y Cajal Research Grant (RYC-2016-21191) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO). Raúl Ortega acknowledges the University of Almería Research Plan postdoctoral contract Hipatia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, Castilla-La Mancha University, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071, Albacete, Spain

    Manuel E. Lucas-Borja, P. A. Plaza-Álvarez, J. González-Romero, E. Peña-Molina, D. Moya & J. de las Heras

  2. Department of Agronomy and Centre for Intensive Mediterranean Agrosystems and Agri-Food Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), University of Almeria, 04120, Almería, Spain

    R. Ortega & I. Miralles

  3. Department AGRARIA, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Località Feo di Vito, 89122, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    D. A. Zema

  4. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Arcata, CA, USA

    J. W. Wagenbrenner

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  1. Manuel E. Lucas-Borja
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  2. R. Ortega
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  3. I. Miralles
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  4. P. A. Plaza-Álvarez
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  9. J. W. Wagenbrenner
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Correspondence to Manuel E. Lucas-Borja.

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Communicated by Eric R. Labelle.

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Lucas-Borja, M.E., Ortega, R., Miralles, I. et al. Effects of wildfire and logging on soil functionality in the short-term in Pinus halepensis M. forests. Eur J Forest Res 139, 935–945 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01296-2

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