Changes in soil quality parameters after a wildfire in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) National Park, Turkey


Ekinci H., KAVDIR Y.

FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN, cilt.14, ss.1184-1191, 2005 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 14
  • Basım Tarihi: 2005
  • Dergi Adı: FRESENIUS ENVIRONMENTAL BULLETIN
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1184-1191
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of forest wildfires that occurred 1994 in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) National Park, Turkey, on some physical, chemical and biological properties of soils. Soil samples were collected from five different locations as replicates from both burned and nearby unburned sites. Results showed that available phosphorus and potassium content, pH, and electrical conductivity of burned soils were higher than those of unburned counterparts. On the other hand, aggregate stability, hydraulic conductivity, total porosity, soil water content, cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen, urease activity, and microbial biomass carbon values of burned soils were lower than those of unburned ones. The mean soil organic carbon values were 2.94% for burned and 5.01% for unburned soils, whereas those of microbial biomass were 1.2 mg C g soil(-1) and 1.69 mg C g soil(-1). Aggregate stability values were found to be 88.32% and 94.44% (P < 0.05), and urease activities were 185 mg kg(-1) 2-h(-1) and 366 mg kg(-1) 2-h(-1) (P < 0.01) for burned and unburned soils samples, respectively. This research showed that negative effects of fire still remain in the soil even after 8 years and recovery of soil health was very low.