Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects

Bodí, Merche B.; Martin, Deborah A.; Balfour, Victoria N.; Santín, Cristina; Doerr, Stefan H.; Pereira, Paulo; Cerdà, Artemi; Mataix-Solera, Jorge

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.12.007

Cited by 504 publications

(604 citation statements)

References 216 publications

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“…The lack of change in PyC CTR mass fraction of forest floor material in our study was likely caused by the presence of mineral ash present in the post-fire residual forest floor material, much of which erodes downslope and/or downstream during postfire rainfall events (Bodí et al, 2014). Some proportion of the lightweight/transient mineral ash component likely would have been omitted if we had collected the post-fire forest floor samples at a later time after fire, and especially after rainfall and/or significant erosion events.…”

Section: Wildfire Impacts On Organic Horizon and Mineral Soil C And Pycmentioning

confidence: 93%

Quantifying Changes in Total and Pyrogenic Carbon Stocks Across Fire Severity Gradients Using Active Wildfire Incidents

et al. 2018

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Positive feedbacks between wildfire emissions and climate are expected to increase in strength in the future; however, fires not only release carbon (C) from terrestrial to atmospheric pools, they also produce pyrogenic C (PyC) which contributes to longer-term C stability. Our objective was to quantify wildfire impacts on total C and PyC stocks in California mixed-conifer forest, and to investigate patterns in C and PyC stocks and changes across gradients of fire severity, using metrics derived from remote sensing and field observations. Our unique study accessed active wildfires to establish and measure plots within days before and after fire, prior to substantial erosion. We measured pre-and post-fire aboveground forest structure and woody fuels to calculate aboveground biomass, C and PyC, and collected forest floor and 0-5 cm mineral soil samples. Immediate tree mortality increased with severity, but overstory C loss was minimal and limited primarily to foliage. Fire released 85% of understory and herbaceous C (comprising <1.0% of total ecosystem C). The greatest C losses occurred from downed wood and forest floor pools (19.3 ± 5.1 Mg ha −1 and 25.9 ± 3.2 Mg ha −1 , respectively). Tree bark and downed wood contributed the greatest PyC gains (1.5 ± 0.3 Mg ha −1 and 1.9 ± 0.8 Mg ha −1 , respectively), and PyC in tree bark showed non-significant positive trends with increasing severity. Overall PyC losses of 1.9 ± 0.3 Mg ha −1 and 0.5 ± 0

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Section: Wildfire Impacts On Organic Horizon and Mineral Soil C And Pycmentioning

confidence: 93%

Quantifying Changes in Total and Pyrogenic Carbon Stocks Across Fire Severity Gradients Using Active Wildfire Incidents

et al. 2018

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“…If we use modern systems as a guide, it appears that most charcoal was moved from burned areas via overland flow; usually, the first rainstorm after a fire event is the most important for transferring this newly formed charred material through the sedimentary system [112][113][114]. Charcoal fragments display complex sedimentation and transport characteristics which can be affected by: (i) the wide variety of sizes, (ii) the type of material that was charred, and (iii) the temperature at which the charcoal formed [112,115,116].…”

Section: Results and Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire history on the California Channel Islands spanning human arrival in the Americas

Hardiman

Scott

Pinter

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 24 to a discussion meeting issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'. Recent studies have suggested that the first arrival of humans in the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age is associated with marked anthropogenic influences on landscape; in particular, with the use of fire which, would have given even small populations the ability to have broad impacts on the landscape. Understanding the impact of these early people is complicated by the dramatic changes in climate occurring with the shift from glacial to interglacial conditions. Despite these difficulties, we here attempt to test the extent of anthropogenic influence using the California Channel Islands as a smaller, landscape-scale test bed. These islands are famous for the discovery of the 'Arlington Springs Man', which are some of the earliest human remains in the Americas. A unifying sedimentary charcoal record is presented from Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, based on over 20 detailed sedimentary sections from eight key localities. Radiocarbon dating was based on thin, fragile, long fragments of charcoal in order to avoid the 'inbuilt' age problem. Radiocarbon dating of 49 such fragments has allowed inferences regarding the fire and landscape history of the Canyon ca 19-11 ka BP. A significant period of charcoal deposition is identified approximately 14-12.5 ka BP and bears remarkable closeness to an estimated age range of the first human arrival on the islands.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.

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“…Moreover, through incorporation into the soil, ash possibly plays a significant role in carbon sequestration (e.g. Santín et al 2012;Bodí et al 2014). The increasing complexity in the understanding of post-wildfire processes and outcomes and their transient nature has made the task of predicting post-wildfire runoff and erosion using models increasingly challenging.…”

Section: Introduction and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesising empirical results to improve predictions of post-wildfire runoff and erosion response

Shakesby

Moody

Martin

et al. 2016

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Abstract. Advances in research into wildfire impacts on runoff and erosion have demonstrated increasing complexity of controlling factors and responses, which, combined with changing fire frequency, present challenges for modellers. We convened a conference attended by experts and practitioners in post-wildfire impacts, meteorology and related research, including modelling, to focus on priority research issues. The aim was to improve our understanding of controls and responses and the predictive capabilities of models. This conference led to the eight selected papers in this special issue. They address aspects of the distinctiveness in the controls and responses among wildfire regions, spatiotemporal rainfall variability, infiltration, runoff connectivity, debris flow formation and modelling applications. Here we summarise key findings from these papers and evaluate their contribution to improving understanding and prediction of post-wildfire runoff and erosion under changes in climate, human intervention and population pressure on wildfire-prone areas.

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Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects

Cited by 504 publications

References 216 publications

Quantifying Changes in Total and Pyrogenic Carbon Stocks Across Fire Severity Gradients Using Active Wildfire Incidents

Quantifying Changes in Total and Pyrogenic Carbon Stocks Across Fire Severity Gradients Using Active Wildfire Incidents

Fire history on the California Channel Islands spanning human arrival in the Americas

Synthesising empirical results to improve predictions of post-wildfire runoff and erosion response

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