Short-term effects of prescribed fires with different severity on rainsplash erosion and physico-chemical properties of surface soil in Mediterranean forests

Lucas‐Borja, Manuel Esteban; Heras, Jorge de las; Moya, Daniel; González-Romero, J.; Peña, E. de la; Navidi, Mehdi; Fajardo-Cantos, Álvaro; Plaza‐Álvarez, Pedro Antonio; Carrà, Bruno Gianmarco; Wagenbrenner, Joseph W.; Zema, Demetrio Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116143

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Management actions with durable effects (e.g. log erosion barriers, contour felled log debris) may be welcome in those environments where the recovery of the pre‐fire rates of runoff and erosion, and SWR disappearance are longer, as reported for instance by Hubbert et al (2006), Pierson et al (2009), Fonseca et al (2017), Chandler et al (2018), Karban et al (2022) and Lucas‐Borja, De Las Heras, Moya Navarro, González‐Romero, et al (2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The cases of the lowest annual precipitation class and soil slope class between 10% and 20% are the only two exceptions (e.g. González‐Pelayo et al, 2010; Lucas‐Borja et al, 2019; Lucas‐Borja, De Las Heras, Moya Navarro, González‐Romero, et al, 2022; Morales et al, 2000; Pierson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prescribed fire is carried out under controlled climatic and morphological conditions that avoid the triggering of high‐severity fires. However, the soil burn severity, although not burning the tree canopies, may also be moderate and high, and this may noticeably alter the hydrological properties of burned soils (Lucas‐Borja, De Las Heras, Moya Navarro, González‐Romero, et al, 2022; Lucas‐Borja, Fernández, Plaza‐Alvarez, & Zema, 2022). According to this meta‐analysis, water infiltration underwent significant variations among classes of soil burn severity, and noticeably decreased at moderate severities, while the effects of low and low‐to‐moderate severities were lower or absent in the short‐term.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While soil loss generally remained very high throughout the monitoring period (e.g. González‐Pelayo et al, 2010; Lucas‐Borja, De Las Heras, Moya Navarro, González‐Romero, et al, 2022), in some cases studies erosion significantly increased in the medium‐term, when low rates were detected immediately after the fire (e.g. Lucas‐Borja et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, prescribed fires can negatively affect soil properties (Alcañiz et al, 2018; Francos & Úbeda, 2021), since even fires with low intensity remove vegetation and modify the hydrologic and chemical properties of soil (Cawson et al, 2012; Certini, 2005; Shakesby, 2011). When the forest soil is left bare due to vegetation removal, rainsplash erosion and particle detachment by overland flow generally increase (Lucas‐Borja, De Las Heras, Moya Navarro, González‐Romero, et al, 2022). Water infiltration, which is often high in undisturbed forest soils (Robichaud, 2000), can decrease, and soil hydrophobicity may appear (Zema, Plaza‐Alvarez, et al, 2021; Zema, Van Stan, et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

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

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

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

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Assessing canopy rainfall partitioning by Mediterranean dryland shrubs under extreme rainfall

Lucas‐Borja,

Van Stan,

Carmona Yáñez

et al. 2023

Hydrological Processes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intense rain events have become more frequent in some regions due to climate change, and this trend is particularly concerning in dryland regions where the ecological and geomorphological impacts of rainfall are intimately tied to its intensity. The interception of rainfall by vegetation is a critical process in the water balance of drylands; thus, this study estimated the canopy interception capacity and interception rates as well as stemflow of three typical Mediterranean shrub species (Rosmarinus officinalis, Thymus vulgaris, and Macrochloa tenacissima) of three size classes in Spain under a simulated extreme rainfall rate (~8 mm min−1, historical return period of >100 years). Given that these plants' canopy structures markedly differ from taller woody plants (i.e., trees), a novel method was developed to assess the stemflow fraction. Results showed significant differences in interception amount, rates, and storage capacity among the shrub species, with variations in plant morphology, such as shrub height and canopy diameter, being the key factors determining interception capacity. R. officinalis had the highest interception fraction per unit canopy area, or ‘specific interception,’ (18.4%). In contrast, the lowest specific interception fraction was measured for M. tenacissima (6.5%). Thymus vulgaris was characterized by the highest stemflow yields per unit canopy area (4.85 mm) and fraction (up to 29.6% of rainfall), which was the lowest for M. tenacissima (1.09 mm, ~1%–4%). Strong linear correlations were found between canopy interception and shrub canopy diameter (|r| > −0.51, max = −0.90), when observations were grouped for size class. These linear correlations between shrub morphology and partitioning enabled multiple‐regression linear models to be developed that predicted canopy interception and stemflow with good accuracy (r2 > 0.64, with a maximum of 0.82) from shrub height, canopy diameter, dry biomass, size class, and species. Despite these measurements being conducted under one extreme storm depth and intensity, the results provide: (i) values of rainfall partitioning for important shrub species in Mediterranean dryland environments; and (ii) a simple but reliable model that may be further developed (e.g., embedding variable rainfall values as weather input or incorporating other morphological parameters) and may be integrated into complex hydrological models.

show abstract

Using random forest and multiple-regression models to predict changes in surface runoff and soil erosion after prescribed fire

Zema

Parhizkar

Plaza‐Álvarez

et al. 2023

Model. Earth Syst. Environ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Short-term effects of prescribed fires with different severity on rainsplash erosion and physico-chemical properties of surface soil in Mediterranean forests

Cited by 16 publications

References 67 publications

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

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

Assessing canopy rainfall partitioning by Mediterranean dryland shrubs under extreme rainfall

Using random forest and multiple-regression models to predict changes in surface runoff and soil erosion after prescribed fire

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About