Temporal impacts of pile burning on vegetation regrowth and soil properties in a Mediterranean environment (Croatia)

Abstract

Burning slash piles is common in the Mediterranean regions to manage the unwanted biomass. This work aims to study the effect of two experimental pile burns ((moderate (MS) and high severity (HS)) conducted in Croatia on vegetation and soil compared to an unburned treatment (UB). We studied vegetation cover (VC), soil water repellency (SWR), mean weight diameter (MWD), water-stable aggregates (WSA), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic matter (SOM), the total content of calcium (Ca), aluminium (Al), silicon (Si), and iron (Fe), available phosphorus (P₂O₅) and potassium (K₂O). The impacts of the burn were studied 5 days after burning (DAB), 3, 8, 12, and 15 months after burn (MAB). The results showed that VC was significantly higher in UB than in MS 5 DAB-15MAB. SWR was significantly higher in the smallest soil fractions (<0.25 mm) in burn treatments than in the UB on 5 DAB and 3 MAB. Also, 3 MAB, MWD and WSA were significantly lower in the burned treatments than in UB. pH was significantly higher in HS than in UB 3, 12 and 15 MAB, while EC was significantly higher in HS than in UB, 5 DAB, 3 and 15 MAB. MS and HS did not significantly affect SOM content. Total Ca was significantly higher in burn treatments than in UB 5 DAB-12 MAB. Total Al and Si were significantly higher in UB than in HS (5 DAB-15MAB), while total Fe was significantly higher in UB than in HS 5 DAB, and 8-15 MAB. P₂O₅ was significantly higher in HS than in UB from 3 to 15 MAB, while K₂O was significantly higher in MS and HS than in UB 5 DAB. Soils need more time to recover from pile burning disturbance, likely due to the soil poor natural conditions, therefore this type of management is detrimental.

Keywords: Biomass; Degradation; Management; Slash-pile burns.