Short-term effects of a wildfire on soil properties in Fragas do Eume Natural Park (Galicia, NW Spain)

Abstract

The impact of a wildfire on some selected physicochemical, biochemical and microbiological properties was assessed in an ecosystem located in the Fragas do Eume Natural Park (NW Spain). Soil samples were collected from the topsoil (0-2.5 and 2.5-5 cm) of the unburnt and burnt soil under the autochthonous (Quercus) and non autochthonous (Eucalyptus) vegetation. The results indicated that, independently of the vegetation considered, a short-term impact of the wildfire on most soil properties analyzed was detected; the effect being more pronounced for the biochemical properties than for the physical and chemical ones. As expected soil properties varied with soil depth, and the fire effect was more noticeable in the 0-2.5 cm layer than in the 2.5-5 cm layer.