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International Journal of Wildland Fire International Journal of Wildland Fire Society
Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE

The long-term impact of low-intensity surface fires on litter decomposition and enzyme activities in boreal coniferous forests

Kajar Köster A B E , Frank Berninger A , Jussi Heinonsalo C , Aki Lindén A , Egle Köster A , Hannu Ilvesniemi D and Jukka Pumpanen A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 27 (Latokartanonkaari 7), Fi-00014, Finland.

B Institute of Forestry and Rural Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 5, Tartu 51014, Estonia.

C Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 56 (Viikinkaari 9), FI-00014, Finland.

D Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Viikinkaari 4, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland.

E Corresponding author. Email: kajar.koster@emu.ee

International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(2) 213-223 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF14217
Submitted: 9 September 2014  Accepted: 14 September 2015   Published: 17 November 2015

Abstract

In boreal forest ecosystems fire, fungi and bacteria, and their interactions, have a pronounced effect on soil carbon dynamics. In this study we measured enzymatic activities, litter decomposition rates, carbon stocks and fungal and microbial biomasses in a boreal subarctic coniferous forest on a four age classes of non-stand replacing fire chronosequence (2, 42, 60 and 152 years after the fire). The results show that microbial activity recovered slowly after fire and the decomposition of new litter was affected by the disturbance. The percent mass loss of Scots pine litter increased with time from the last fire. Slow litter decomposition during the first post-fire years accelerates soil organic matter accumulation that is essential for the recovery of soil biological activities. Fire reduced the enzymatic activity across all the enzyme types measured. Carbon-degrading, chitin-degrading and phosphorus-dissolving enzymes showed different responses with the time elapsed since the fire disturbance. Microbial and enzymatic activity took decades before recovering to the levels observed in old forest stands. Our study demonstrates that slower post-fire litter decomposition has a pronounced impact on the recovery of soil organic matter following forest fires in northern boreal coniferous forests.

Additional keywords: fire disturbance, fungal and microbial biomass, soil CO2 efflux.


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