Greenhouse gas emissions after a prescribed fire in white birch-dwarf bamboo stands in northern Japan, focusing on the role of charcoal

• Published in: European journal of forest research 2011-11, Vol.130 (6), p.1031-1044
• Main Authors: Kim, Yong Suk, Makoto, Kobayashi, Takakai, Fumiaki, Shibata, Hideaki, Satomura, Takami, Takagi, Kentaro, Hatano, Ryusuke, Koike, Takayoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Carbon dioxide; Charcoal; Environmental changes; Fluctuations; Forest ecosystems; Forest fire; Forest fires; Forestry; Forests; GHG emissions; Greenhouse gases; Growing season; Life Sciences; Methane; Nitrous oxide; Original Paper; Plant Ecology; Plant Sciences; Prescribed fire; Soil properties; Soil temperature; Temperate forests; Terrestrial ecosystems
• ISSN: 1612-4669; 1612-4677; 1612-4677
• DOI: 10.1007/s10342-011-0490-8

Forest fires affect both carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in forest ecosystems, and thereby influence the soil–atmosphere exchange of major greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). To determine changes in the soil GHG fluxes following a forest fire, we arranged a low-intensity surface fire in a white birch forest in northern Japan. We established three treatments, having four replications each: a control plot (CON), a burned plot (BURN), and a plot burned with removal of the resulting charcoal (BURN-CHA). Soil GHG fluxes and various properties of the soil were determined on four or five occasions during a period that spanned two growing seasons. We observed increased concentrations of ammonium-N (NH 4 -N) in BURN and BURN-CHA after the fire, while nitrate–N (NO 3 -N) concentration was only increased in BURN-CHA after the fire. The soil CO 2 flux was significantly higher in CON than in BURN or BURN-CHA, but there was no difference in soil CH 4 uptake between the three treatments. Moreover, the N 2 O flux from BURN-CHA soil was slightly greater than in CON or BURN. In BURN-CHA, the soil N 2 O flux peaked in August, but there was no peak in BURN. We found temporal correlations between soil GHG fluxes and soil variables, e.g. soil temperature or NO 3 -N. Our results suggest that environmental changes following fire, including the increased availability of N and the disappearance of the litter layer, have the potential to change soil GHG fluxes. Fire-produced charcoal could be significant in reducing soil N 2 O flux in temperate forests.