06.04.2013 Views

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES in rocky mountain coniferous ...

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES in rocky mountain coniferous ...

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES in rocky mountain coniferous ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Figure 6.-- Effects of harvest treabwnt on monim and nitrate concentrations <strong>in</strong> the<br />

hums layer to2) of a Douglas-fir/western Zarck/subaZp<strong>in</strong>e fir stand (Montuna).<br />

A clearer picture of the N m<strong>in</strong>eral i<br />

tation changes which occur <strong>in</strong> soil follow<strong>in</strong>g<br />

fire was given by Mroz and others (1980) <strong>in</strong> a laboratory experiment us<strong>in</strong>g forest floor<br />

material from the Coram site (Figure 7). This study showed an immediate release of N<br />

when the organic layers were burned, a rapid immobilization of the available N with<strong>in</strong><br />

three days follow<strong>in</strong>g the burn, and a gradual m<strong>in</strong>eral ization of the organic N to NHq<br />

<strong>in</strong> the succeed<strong>in</strong>g five weeks. These N fluctuations are likely due to a rapid expan-<br />

sion of the soil microflora after the fire <strong>in</strong> response to <strong>in</strong>creases <strong>in</strong> available

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!