Environmental assessment of erosion following prescribed burning in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Australia

Morris, Rowena; Bradstock, Ross A.; Dragovich, Deirdre; Henderson, Meredith K.; Penman, Trent D.; Ostendorf, Bertram

doi:10.1071/wf13011

Cited by 17 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…6). The results show an exponential relationship between erosion categories (from Morris et al 2014) and the RUSLE predictions. Erosion categories ranging from 0 to 2.5 correspond with erosion rates ranging from ,0.05 to 1 t ha À1 year À1 .…”

Section: Erosion Risk From Rusle and Field Validationmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The tendency for RUSLE to underestimate has been documented in other work (Larsen and MacDonald 2007) and may be due to fire-related changes in soil erodibility, K, which are not captured in the model. In a relative sense, the assessment of erosion severity using the method of Morris et al (2014) indicates that RUSLE is effective at discriminating between areas of different erosion risk. Hillslopes with low erosion predictions showed few signs of erosion, while locations with comparably high RUSLE predictions displayed significant erosion, including sheetwash and rills.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Erosion categories ranging from 0 to 2.5 correspond with erosion rates ranging from ,0.05 to 1 t ha À1 year À1 . The exponential relationship suggests that erosion magnitude scales non-linearly with the erosion categories from Morris et al (2014). In fact, for the equation relating the RUSLE prediction and erosion category (E cat ) (RUSLE ¼ 0:023e 2:26E cat ) (Fig.…”

Section: Erosion Risk From Rusle and Field Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, studies of background erosion rates and fire impacts elsewhere in the region can provide some insights into the reliability of the predictions. A field survey was carried out to determine the degree with which RUSLE represents differences in erosion potential quantified from a rapid visual field assessment technique developed by Morris et al (2014). Fifteen sample sites were selected to cover a range of erosion potentials as predicted by RUSLE and based on accessibility (see Fig.…”

Section: Model Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Blake

Nyman

Nice

et al. 2020

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Investigations of wildfire impact on water resources have escalated globally over the last decade owing to an awareness of climate-related vulnerabilities. Within Australia, research into post-wildfire erosion has focused on water supply catchments in the south-eastern region. Here, we examine post-wildfire erosion risk and its potential for water quality impacts in a catchment in south-western Australia. The catchment of the Harvey River, which drains from forested escarpments onto an agricultural coastal plain and into valuable coastal wetlands, was burnt by wildfire in 2016. The aims of this study were to determine erosion risk across contrasting landforms and variable fire severity, using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), and to determine whether post-fire water quality impacts could be detected at permanent river monitoring stations located on the coastal plain. RUSLE outputs showed erosion hot-spots at intersections of steep terrain and high fire severity and that these areas were confined to forested headwaters and coastal dunes. Monthly water quality data showed conspicuous seasonal patterns, but that sampling frequency was temporally too coarse to pick up predicted event-related effects, particularly given that the pre-existing monitoring sites were distal to the predicted zone of contamination.

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Section: Erosion Risk From Rusle and Field Validationmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Erosion Risk From Rusle and Field Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Blake

Nyman

Nice

et al. 2020

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…They produce lower fire intensities and, as a consequence, lower fire severity leading to reduced potential for subsequent damage to the soil. Prescribed fire, by its design, usually has minor impacts on the soil resource (Morris et al, 2014).…”

Section: Fire Severitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Soil Disturbance: Implications of Factors Contributing to the Wildland Fire Nexus

Neary

2019

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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Core Ideas Wildfire is a major cause of forest soil disturbance. Fire severity, scale of fire, slope, infiltration rates, and post‐fire rainfall are major factors. Soil management has limited potential for mitigating negative effects. Fire area and severity are on the increase. Climate change is causing wildfires to be hotter, windier, drier, and larger. Wildfires and prescribed fires cause a range of impacts on forest soils depending on the interactions of a nexus of fire severity, scale of fire, slope, infiltration rates, and post‐fire rainfall. These factors determine the degree of impact on forest soils and subsequently the need for post‐fire soil management. Fire is a useful tool in landscape management but it can be benign or set off serious deteriorations in soil quality that lead to long‐term desertification. If parts of the nexus are absent or not inherently risky, forest soil impacts can be relatively minor or nonexistent. A low severity prescribed fire on a small landscape unit with minimal fuel loading, slopes less than 10%, and no water repellency is unlikely to damage soil condition and functions with all but heavy rainfall. On the other hand, a high severity wildfire in a substantial area of heavy fuels with slopes >100% and water repellency may undergo serious soil damage with even moderate rainfall. Soil management is not likely to be needed in the former case but virtually impossible in the latter scenario. This paper examines thresholds in the nexus factors which can raise the risks of wildland fire from low and moderate to high. It documents the interactions of the fire nexus using several case histories in North America and elsewhere to demonstrate different degrees of soil impact.

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Effects of prescribed fire on the post‐fire hydrological processes in agro‐forest ecosystems: A systematic review and a meta‐analysis

Zema,

Lucas‐Borja

2023

Hydrological Processes

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Prescribed fires are one of the most effective tools to reduce the risk of wildfires but this treatment may negatively affect the hydrological and erosive response of soil, with noticeable increases in surface runoff and soil erosion. Many studies have been published on this matter but there is no consensus in the literature on the magnitude and duration of these effects since the relevant hydrological conditions are site‐specific. Moreover, the relationship between post‐fire hydrology and its main environmental drivers has been little explored. This study has carried out a bibliographic review and a meta‐analysis of the changes resulting from prescribed fire applications (water infiltration, soil water repellency (SWR), surface runoff and soil erosion) using a database of 85 case studies from 41 academic papers that have been published over the last 23 years. The effects of annual precipitation, soil slope, burn severity, fire application season, post‐fire ground cover, and vegetation type on those changes have also been statistically explored. The bibliographic review has revealed that previous case studies have not been equally distributed across the globe but concentrated in only a few countries, mainly the United States and Spain. The meta‐analysis has revealed that (i) water infiltration generally decreases and SWR appears with noticeable increases in surface runoff and soil erosion immediately after the prescribed fire, while the pre‐fire values progressively recover over time; (ii) the window of disturbance in burned soils may last a few months (with some exceptions); (iii) annual precipitation and soil slope significantly influence water infiltration and surface runoff, but not soil erosion, in both the short‐term and medium‐term; (iv) moderate‐to‐high levels of soil burn severity severely enhance surface runoff and soil erosion, and noticeably reduce water infiltration in the short‐term; (v) the level of ground cover burning is important for reducing the runoff rates, but it plays a minor role in water infiltration and soil erosion rates;and (vi) the prescribed fire applied in spring results in lower increases in short‐term runoff and erosion, while fire applications in summer and in shrublands produce the highest increases in soil loss. The following practical recommendations arise from this study: (i) research should be better distributed across all environmental contexts on a global scale; (ii) post‐fire management actions should be immediately implemented after the prescribed fire application; (iii) prescribed fire should be carried out in spring and the soil burn severity should be kept low during burning; (iv) the monitoring studies should be prolonged at least for some years (more than two or three) after prescribed fire; (iv) the catchment‐scale investigations, although more difficult and expensive, should be encouraged (avoiding, however, areas to sparsely burnt in the context of the whole catchment); (v) the monitored variables should also include the most important physical, chemical and biological properties of soil, the cover and structure of regenerating vegetation, as well as the water quality parameters; (vi) the effects of repeated applications of prescribed fire should be experimentally assessed; and (vii) guidelines for standardized and appropriate measurements and analytical methods in experimental activities should be set up. These indications support the use of land managers in the monitoring of the hydrological impacts of the prescribed fire and in the choice of sites where post‐fire management actions must be implemented. The last recommendation of this study is the creation of an experimental database supporting the bibliographic review and the meta‐analysis, which is made available to other researchers and land managers, to create a public, easily‐accessible and comprehensive tool for future research needs and professional use.

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Environmental assessment of erosion following prescribed burning in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Australia

Cited by 17 publications

References 38 publications

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Assessment of post-wildfire erosion risk and effects on water quality in south-western Australia

Forest Soil Disturbance: Implications of Factors Contributing to the Wildland Fire Nexus

Effects of prescribed fire on the post‐fire hydrological processes in agro‐forest ecosystems: A systematic review and a meta‐analysis

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