The effect of fire on some soil chemical properties of oak forests in Marivan region

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 M.Sc. of forestry, Kamyaran’s Office of Environment, Kordistan province

2 Associate Prof., Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tarbiat modares

3 Assistant Prof., Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Urmia

Abstract

Most of soil physical, chemical, mineral and biological attributes are changed by forest fires. Fire is one of the most important factors of forests destruction in Marivan region and considerable area of the region are annually exposed to fire. Depend on environmental conditions and also fire intensity, different effects will impose on ecological conditions of the environment. Whereas soil is considered as a base for forest’s growth and regeneration, study of fire effects on it’s properties takes an important place. The study area is located in 2 km far from Marivan. The study was carried out in autumn 2006 and the objective of this research was to compare the effect of fire on some soil chemical properties in surface soil (0-5 cm depth) and subsurface soil (5-20 cm depth) in a forest stand that was burned in 2002 in an area of 1.3 ha. A control stand with similar conditions was selected beside of the burned area. Five holes were dug in each site and soil samples were collected from the above mentioned depths and analyzed. Results showed significant effects of fire on most chemical attributes of surface soil including: pH, available phosphorous, electrical conductivity and available potassium increasing. The fire caused increasing of total nitrogen and cation exchangeable capacity in surface soil. All of chemical properties of subsurface soil were measured higher in burned area than control however; these differences were not significant, statistically.

Keywords


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