How Mediterranean Ecosystem Deals with Wildfire Impact on Soil Ecosystem Services and Functions: A Review

Abstract

Wildfires are a common phenomenon in Mediterranean environments. This study seeks to synthesize the main results of existing studies from the last decade on this topic and to highlight the need for managing soil impacted by wildfires in the Mediterranean environment. Researchers have found that the impact of fire during a forest fire on the soil, and the subsequent consequences on soil ecosystem services and functions, is great and produces negative consequences for the soil. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil have been extensively analyzed, and a very high number of studies during the last ten years have been performed on different study areas with a common component: the Mediterranean ecosystem. However, the effects of these fires on the multifunctionality of the soil itself, ecosystem services, and soil functionality, which they provide to humans, have not. It is therefore essential to know the impact of fires in a fire-prone ecosystem such as the Mediterranean one on the soil and how these services and functions are affected. In this way, the decision can be taken to carry out restoration measures, especially after very severe forest fires and if the recurrence is high. This conclusion is even more important in the context of global change in which more severe and recurrent fires are expected, and therefore actions to be considered are expected to be more necessary to avoid land degradation, as many of the studies compiled here have shown.