Stand-replacing
crown fires in boreal spruce forests initiate a vegetation succession from
forbs to deciduous trees to coniferous trees. Soils are warmest during the
first decades and cool throughout the succession as shading by trees and cover
with bryophytes and plant litter increase. It was postulated that the initially
warmer soil temperatures enhance decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) by
microorganisms, and that decomposition would release similar amounts of CO2
as combustion during fire [Auclair and
Carter, 1993].
Author: C.I. Czimczik, M.S. Carbone, G.C. Winston, and S.E. Trumbore (czimczik at uci dot edu)
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