Abstract
Frequent fires maintain nearly 50% of terrestrial ecosystems, and drive ecosystem changes that govern future fires. Since fires are dependent on available plant or fine fuels, ecosystem processes that alter fine fuel loads like microbial decomposition are particularly important and could modify future fires. We hypothesized that variation in short-term fire history would influence fuel dynamics in such ecosystems. We predicted that frequent fires within a short-time period would slow microbial decomposition of new fine fuels. We expected that fire effects would differ based on dominant substrates and that fire history would also alter soil nutrient availability, indirectly slowing decomposition. We measured decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels in a Longleaf pine savanna, comparing plots that burned 0, 1, 2, or 3 times between 2014 and 2016, and which were located in either close proximity to or away from overstory pines (Longleaf pine, Pinus palustris). Microbial decomposition was slower in plots near longleaf pines and, as the numbers of fires increased, decomposition slowed. We then used structural equation modeling to assess pathways for these effects (number of fires, 2016 fuel/fire characteristics, and soil chemistry). Increased fire frequency was directly associated with decreased microbial decomposition. While increased fires decreased nutrient availability, changes in nutrients were not associated with decomposition. Our findings indicate that increasing numbers of fires over short-time intervals can slow microbial decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels. This could favor fine fuel accumulation and drive positive feedbacks on future fires.
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Data availability
Data is available in Dryad: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3n5tb2rf2.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Neil Jones, Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, and the Wade Foundation for assistance with field support. The authors also thank Theo Michaels and Samuel Imel for lab assistance as well as Dr. Candace Davison at the Pennsylvania State Breazeale Nuclear Reactor for assistance with gamma sterilization anonymous reviewers. As Rumi said, life is a balance of holding on and letting go.
Funding
This work was supported by NSF grants DEB-1557000 to BAS and DEB-1556837 to WJP. This material is also based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 1451148 to JRH. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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WJP, BAS, and JMH conceived and designed the experiment. JRH, JMH, WJP, and BAS performed the experiment. JRH analyzed the data. JRH and BAS wrote the manuscript. WJP provided editorial advice.
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Communicated by Amy Austin.
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Hopkins, J.R., Huffman, J.M., Platt, W.J. et al. Frequent fire slows microbial decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels in a pyrophilic ecosystem. Oecologia 193, 631–643 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04699-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04699-5