Surface Erosion Control by Contour–Felled Log Erosion Barriers in Post Fire Areas in Eastern Coastal Regions of the Republic of Korea

Abstract

IN TRODUCTIONForest fires were mainly viewed as destructive events with no beneficial consequences prior to the 1980s (Spurr and Barnes, 1980). However, further studies on the ecological roles of fire revealed that forest fire is a critical process that maintains the integrity of many forest ecosystems and often has beneficial effects on forest productivity (Kutiel and Naveh, 1987;Brose et al., 1999). It is also recognized that the burning of litter and soil organic matter can increase the water repellency of the surface soil layer, reduce water infiltration rates, and increase surface runoff, resulting in high amounts of soil erosion (DeBano, 2000;DeBano et al., 2005). In general, forest fires and the associated heat to the ground surface affect the porosity of the surface soil (DeBano et al., 2005). The condition of the soil surface after a fire is an important factor that determines the direction of water movement and the extent of surface soil erosion (Yao, 2003).Surface soil erosion is a landscape level process, and its scale varies by local geology, topography, vegetation,

A review of wildfire impacts on stream temperature and turbidity across scales

“…Because a one-size-fits-all approach to post-fire management is not applicable due to differences in watershed and fire characteristics, more placed-based adaptive approaches are needed to address water quality impairment caused by salvage logging. In addition to salvage logging, other post-fire management practices such as using contour felled logs and compost as erosion barriers were found to be effective at the reach scale to reduce sediment input into streams (Ahn et al, 2013; Crohn et al, 2013). Overall, challenges remain in the design, funding, and implementation of post-fire management practices, and these practices should be conducted not only as crisis response but also with long-term hydrological recovery goals in mind.…”