Post-wildfire Erosion in Mountainous Terrain Leads to Rapid and Major Redistribution of Soil Organic Carbon

Abney, R.; Sanderman, Jonathan; Johnson, Dale W.; Fogel, Marilyn L.; Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw

doi:10.3389/feart.2017.00099

Cited by 32 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 75 publications

(115 reference statements)

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“…Erosion is a particularly important flux for PyC in soil when it stays on surface layers (Rumpel et al, 2006) at least on the order of months, if not longer (Boot et al, 2015;Faria et al, 2015), because this leaves PyC vulnerable to weathering forces of wind and water. However, current research has focused on hillslope-and plot-scale erosion of PyC (Rumpel et al, 2006(Rumpel et al, , 2009Abney et al, 2017;Pyle et al, 2017), so its redistribution at the watershed and larger scales remains largely unknown.…”

Section: Erosion As a Driver Of C Dynamics In Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Transport of PyC is assumed to occur in erosion events immediately after fire when the land surface is covered by a layer of PyC, which can become quickly mobilized through the landscape via either wind-or water-driven erosion processes (Carroll et al, 2007;Pereira et al, 2015;Abney et al, 2017). The PyC on the soil surface is likely to be eroded before and more preferentially than mineral soil or mineral-associated PyC, except in the cases of landslides and other major mass wasting events.…”

Section: The Erodible Nature Of Pycmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Current evidence suggests that erosion is a significant driver of PyC redistribution in hillslopes (i.e., loss from soil profiles of eroding landform positions, that may or may not remain in the same catchment as input to the soil profiles of depositional landform positions; Rumpel et al, 2006Rumpel et al, , 2009Abney et al, 2017). Environmental conditions post-fire and the nature of PyC lead to elevated rates of erosion and enrichment of PyC within the resulting eroded sediments (Pierson et al, 2008;Rumpel et al, 2009).…”

Section: Implications Of Including Erosion As a Pyc Flux Termmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…is not yet accounted for within soil PyC budget models, and rarely accounted for in field studies (Abney et al, 2017). Not accounting for this gain of PyC can lead to major errors within our budget models of PyC and C within eroding landscapes.…”

Section: Estimating Mrt Of Pyc In Dynamic Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This calculation also assumes that PyC that is eroded and left in place is similarly impacted by decomposition, which is not necessarily true based on preferential erosion of PyC (Rumpel et al, 2009). Under natural conditions, a considerable proportion of PyC eroded in the short term (up to 1 year) post-fire is likely mobilized further through the landscape on longer (10 + years) timescales (Abney et al, 2017).…”

Section: Estimating Mrt Of Pyc In Dynamic Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pyrogenic Carbon Erosion: Implications for Stock and Persistence of Pyrogenic Carbon in Soil

Abney

Berhe

2018

Front. Earth Sci.

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Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) constitutes an important pool of soil organic matter (SOM), particularly for its reactivity and because of its assumed long residence times in soil. In the past, research on the dynamics of PyC in the soil system has focused on quantifying stock and mean residence time (MRT) of PyC in soil, as well as determining both PyC stabilization mechanisms and loss pathways. Much of this research has focused on decomposition as the most important loss pathway for PyC from soil. However, the low density of PyC and its high concentration on the soil surface after fire indicates that a significant proportion of PyC formed or deposited on the soil surface is likely laterally transported away from the site of production by wind and water erosion. Here, we present a synthesis of available data and literature to compare the magnitude of the water-driven erosional PyC flux with other important loss pathways, including leaching and decomposition, of PyC from soil. Furthermore, we use a simple first-order kinetic model of soil PyC dynamics to assess the effect of erosion and deposition on residence time of PyC in eroding landscapes. Current reports of PyC MRT range from 250 to 660 years. Using a specific example-based model system, we find that ignoring the role of erosion may lead to the under-or over-estimation of PyC MRT on the centennial time scale. Furthermore, we find that, depending on the specific landform positions, timescales considered, and initial concentrations of PyC in soil, ignoring the role of erosion in distributing PyC across a landscape can lead to discrepancies in PyC concentrations on the order of several 100 g PyC m −2 . Erosion is an important PyC flux that can act as a significant control on the stock and residence time of PyC in the soil system.

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Section: Erosion As a Driver Of C Dynamics In Soilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Erodible Nature Of Pycmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications Of Including Erosion As a Pyc Flux Termmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Estimating Mrt Of Pyc In Dynamic Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Estimating Mrt Of Pyc In Dynamic Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pyrogenic Carbon Erosion: Implications for Stock and Persistence of Pyrogenic Carbon in Soil

Abney

Berhe

2018

Front. Earth Sci.

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Short‐Term Changes in Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil Charcoal Support Enhanced Landscape Mobility

et al. 2017

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Charcoal is a major component of the stable soil organic carbon reservoir, and the physical and chemical properties of charcoal can sometimes significantly alter bulk soil properties (e.g., by increasing soil water holding capacity). However, our understanding of the residence time of soil charcoal remains uncertain, with old measured soil charcoal ages in apparent conflict with relatively short modeled and measured residence times. These discrepancies may exist because the fate of charcoal on the landscape is a function not just of its resistance to biological decomposition but also its physical mobility. Mobility may be important in controlling charcoal landscape residence time and may artificially inflate estimates of its degradability, but few studies have examined charcoal vulnerability to physical redistribution. Charcoal landscape redistribution is likely higher than other organic carbon fractions owing to charcoal's low bulk density, typically less than 1.0 g/cm3. Here we examine both the physical and chemical properties of soil and charcoal over a period of two years following a 2011 wildfire in Texas. We find little change in properties with time; however, we find evidence of enhanced mobility of charcoal relative to other forms of soil organic matter. These data add to a growing body of evidence that charcoal is preferentially eroded, offering another explanation for variations observed in its environmental residence times.

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Biogeochemistry in Dynamic Landscapes

Berhe

Ghezzehei

2022

Multi‐Scale Biogeochemical Processes in Soil Ecosystems

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Post-wildfire Erosion in Mountainous Terrain Leads to Rapid and Major Redistribution of Soil Organic Carbon

Cited by 32 publications

References 75 publications

Pyrogenic Carbon Erosion: Implications for Stock and Persistence of Pyrogenic Carbon in Soil

Pyrogenic Carbon Erosion: Implications for Stock and Persistence of Pyrogenic Carbon in Soil

Short‐Term Changes in Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil Charcoal Support Enhanced Landscape Mobility

Biogeochemistry in Dynamic Landscapes

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