Effect of repeated soil heating at different temperatures on microbial activity in two burned soils

The effect of fire severity and recurrence on the recovery of enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase) and bacterial activity was monitored. Unburned and burned soil samples from soil affected by a high severity wildfire and by a low severity experimental fire were subjected in...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Lombao, Alba, Barreiro, Ana, Fontúrbel Lliteras, Mª Teresa, Martín Jiménez, Ángela, Carballas, Tarsy, Díaz-Raviña, Montserrat
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/248375
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/248375
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Degree-hours methodology
Microbial activity
Microbial resilience
Fire severity
Fire recurrence
Descripción
Sumario:The effect of fire severity and recurrence on the recovery of enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase) and bacterial activity was monitored. Unburned and burned soil samples from soil affected by a high severity wildfire and by a low severity experimental fire were subjected in laboratory to a temperature gradient to simulate different fire severities. These samples were subjected to a second laboratory heat treatment to simulate the effect of recurrence. Soil temperature was measured and used to calculate the degree-hours reached by the soil. The results showed: a) a strong effect of repeated soil heating at different temperatures on soil microbial activity; b) a different sensitivity of enzymatic activities and bacterial activity to fire, c) the magnitude of changes in these biochemical properties was related to the extent of heat supplied to samples and the previous fire/heat history, and d) degree-hours are adequate to quantify the severity of heat treatments and to examine their effects on soil microbial activity. The relationships between degree-hours and the different biochemical properties analyzed clearly demonstrate that the usefulness of these biochemical properties to detect the soil microbial community response to the heat stress followed the order: urease activity > acid phosphatase activity >β-glucosidase activity ≫ bacterial activity.