Changes in soil carbon and nitrogen cycling along a 72-year wildfire chronosequence in Michigan jack pine forests.
We investigated the changes in soil processes following wildfire in Michigan jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forests using a chronosequence of 11 wildfire-regenerated stands spanning 72 years. The objective of this study was to characterize patterns of soil nutrients, soil respiration and N mineralization with stand development, as well as to determine the mechanisms driving those patterns. We measured in situ N mineralization and soil respiration monthly during the 2002 growing season and used multiple regression analysis to determine the important factors controlling these processes. Growing-season soil respiration rates ranged from a low of 156 g C/m2 in the 7-year-old stand to a high of 254 g C/m2 in the 22-year-old stand, but exhibited no clear pattern with stand age. In general, soil respiration rates peaked during the months of July and August when soil temperatures were highest. We used a modified gamma function to model a temporal trend in total N mineralization (total N mineralization=1.853-0.276xagexe-0.814xage; R2=0.381; P=0.002). Total N mineralization decreased from 2.8 g N/m2 in the 1-year-old stand to a minimum value of 0.5 g N/m2 in the 14-year-old stand, and then increased to about 1.5 g N/m2 in mature stands. Changes in total N mineralization were driven by a transient spike in N turnover in the mineral soil immediately after wildfire, followed by a gradual accrual of a slow-cycling pool of N in surface organic horizons as stands matured. Thus, in Michigan jack pine forests, the accumulation of surface organic matter appears to regulate N availability following stand-replacing wildfire.
Yermakov
Zhanna
Z
Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1222, USA. yermakov@anl.gov
Rothstein
David E
DE
D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D005390:Fires; D008824:Michigan; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D028223:Pinus / Q000378:metabolism*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D013997:Time Factors
D012987:Soil; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen