RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Changes in net N mineralization rates and soil N and P pools in a pine forest wildfire chronosequence A1 Durán, Jorge A1 Rodríguez, Alexandra A1 Fernández-Palacios, José María A1 Gallardo, Antonio K1 Pinus canariensis K1 Ammonification rate K1 Nitrification rate K1 Soil ammonium K1 Soil nitrate K1 Soil phosphate K1 Forest fire K1 tasa de amonificación K1 tasa de nitrificación K1 amonio en suelo K1 nitrato en suelo K1 fosfato en suelo K1 fuego forestal AB The concern that climate change may increasefire frequency and intensity has recently heightened theinterest in the effects of wildfires on ecosystem functioning.Although short-term fire effects on forest soils are wellknown, less information can be found on the long-termeffects of wildfires on soil fertility. Our objective was tostudy the 17-year effect of wildfires on forest netmineralization rates and extractable inorganic nitrogen (N)and phosphorus (P) concentrations. We hypothesize that (1)burned forest stands should exhibit lower net mineralizationrates than unburned ones; (2) these differences would begreatest during the growing season; (3) differences betweensoil variables might also be observed among plots fromdifferent years since the last fire; and (4) due to fireresistantgeochemical processes controlling P availability,this nutrient should recover faster than N. We used awildfire chronosequence of natural and unmanaged Pinuscanariensis forests in La Palma Island (Canary Islands).Soil samples were collected during winter and spring at 22burned and unburned plots. We found significantly highervalues for net N mineralization and extractable N pools inunburned plots. These differences were higher for thewinter sampling date than for the spring sampling date.Unlike extractable N and N mineralization rates, extractableP levels of burned plots exhibited a gradual recovery overtime after an initial decrease. These results demonstrate thatP. canariensis forest soils showed low resilience afterwildfires, especially for N, and that this disturbance mightinduce long-term changes in ecosystem functioning. PB Springer Berlin Heidelberg YR 2009 FD 2009 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18404 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/18404 LA en NO Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 28-mar-2024