Effects of forest fire smoke deposition on soil physico-chemical properties and bacterial community

Zhongpan Zhu; Yuanfan Ma; Mulualem Tigabu; Guangyu Wang; Zhigang Yi; Futao Guo

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168592

Effects of forest fire smoke deposition on soil physico-chemical properties and bacterial community

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jan 20:909:168592. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168592. Epub 2023 Nov 14.

Authors

Zhongpan Zhu¹, Yuanfan Ma¹, Mulualem Tigabu², Guangyu Wang³, Zhigang Yi⁴, Futao Guo⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration on Soil and Water Conservation of Red Soil Region in Southern China, Fuzhou 350002, China.
² College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
³ Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
⁴ College of Resources and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China.
⁵ College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Key Laboratory of State Forestry and Grassland Administration on Soil and Water Conservation of Red Soil Region in Southern China, Fuzhou 350002, China. Electronic address: guofutao@126.com.

PMID: 37972773
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168592

Abstract

The number of forest fires has increased globally, together with considerable smoke emission that significantly impacts the atmospheric environment and associated ecosystems. Most current studies have focused on the in situ effects of fire on the forest ecosystem. However, the mechanisms by which smoke particles affect adjacent ecosystems are largely unexplored. In this study, a simulated forest fire combustion system was developed to evaluate the effect of different smoke concentrations (control, low and high) on soil physico-chemical properties of adjacent farmland at two soil depths. The abundance and diversity of bacterial community were also determined. The results showed that smoke deposition increased the contents of total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in the 0-10 cm soil layer; however, no significant changes in soil water content (SWC) and pH values was observed. The ACE(Abundance Coverage-based Fastimator) and Chao1 diversity indices of bacterial community generally showed a downward trend whereas the PD_whole_ tree diversity index increased after 180 d of smoke deposition. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria remained stable, while abundance of Firmicutes in soil decreased after 180 d of smoke deposition. Smoke deposition slightly affected the physical and chemical properties of the 10-20 cm soil, but the range of variation of the relative abundance and diversity dominant bacteria exceeded that of the 0-10 cm soil. A significant positive correlation was found between the soil properties and the alpha diversity indices during the first 30 d after smoke deposition; the correlation then decreased gradually. Redundancy analysis revealed that Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were generally positively correlated with TC, TN, and SWC. As a whole, the study reveals that the effects of smoke deposition on soil physico-chemical properties and bacterial community depends on smoke concentration where relatively low concentration appears to be beneficial to soil bacterial community.

Keywords: Shannon diversity index; Smoke deposition; Soil bacterial community; Soil carbon; Soil nitrogen; Wildfire.

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Ecosystem*
Firmicutes
Nitrogen / analysis
Proteobacteria
Smoke / adverse effects
Smoke / analysis
Soil / chemistry
Soil Microbiology
Wildfires*

Substances

Soil
Smoke
Nitrogen