RT Journal Article
T1 Prescribed fire impacts on soil properties, overland flow and sediment transport in a Mediterranean forest: A 5 year study.
A1 Hueso-González, Paloma
A1 Ruiz-Sinoga, José Damián
A1 Martínez-Murillo, Juan Francisco
K1 Suelos - Degradación - Mediterráneo
AB Prescribed fire is a common management practice in Mediterranean region to reduce the amount of fuel and to decrease the wildfire risk. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of a prescribed fire on some soil properties, hydrological response and vegetation recovery in experimental plots 5 years after. The results showed that: i) with the exception of electrical conductivity, the prescribed fire did not affect the analyzed soil properties, and ii) overland flow and sediment transport were increased during the first two years, returning to levels pre-fire, 5 years post-fire. The rainfall threshold for overland flow generation was lower during the following months after the prescribed fire owing to the depletion of the vegetation cover. Immediately after the fire, the vegetation cover was of 1.9%, being the three main soil surface components that dominated the hydrological response: charcoal and decayed wood; blackish and greyish ash, and bare soil. However, these areas decreased very rapidly during the second year following the fire, principally, owing to the regrowth of herbaceous plants and shrubs. In addition, the vegetation cover in burned plots was 16.1% higher than that measured in the unburned ones. Overall, the prescribed fire only had an impact on runoff and sediment transport in the two years post-fire, as consequence of vegetation removal.
PB Elsevier
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33595
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/33595
LA eng
NO https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.004
NO https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/15487
NO The study was funded by the P09-RNM-5057 research project (Autonomous Government of Andalusia, Spain). Also, authors thank to TRAGSA Company their technical support during the experimental site set-up.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 1 mar 2026