SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF PRESCRIBED FOREST FIRE ON SOIL ...

POLISH JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(Pol. J. Ecol.)
57 4 805–809 2009
Short research conrtibution
Olga GRABCZYŃSKA 1,3* , Izabella OLEJNICZAK 1 , Anna PRĘDECKA 2 , Stefan RUSSEL 3
1
Centre for Ecological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Dziekanów Leśny,
05-092 Lomianki, Poland, *e-mail: olga_grabczynska@cbe-pan.pl (corresponding author)
2
The Main School of Fire Service, Civil Safety Engineering Faculty, Department of Safety Analyses
and Prognosis, Słowackiego Street 52/54, 01-629 Warsaw, Poland
3
Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Biology,
Department of Soil Environmental Science, Nowoursynowska Street 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF PRESCRIBED FOREST FIRE
ON SOIL MITES (ACARI)
ABSTRACT: Natural forest fires are considered
as a part of natural ecosystem processes.
Short-term effects of prescribed fire on densities
and taxonomic diversity of soil Acari were studied
in fresh pine mixed forest (“Biala” forest ) in the
Mazovia region, Central-Eastern Poland. Three
plots (size 1 m 2 ) of similar soil type and vegetation
were selected for prescribed burning. Soil samples
of an area of 10 cm 2 and the depth of 5 cm were
collected in June 2005 – one day after the burning,
60 days after the burning and 90 days after
the burning. Samples were collected from within
the border of the burned plots, from the border
itself, as well as from the surroundings. Due to
the burning, the density of Acari communities
decreased from 11.5 × 10 3 ind. m -2 recorded in
the surroundings to 3.2 × 10 3 ind. m -2 recorded
in the burned plots. Values recorded within the
burned plots after the fire differed significantly
from those recorded on the border (P = 0.05) and
in the surroundings (P = 0.0001). After 60 days,
an increase in Acari abundance was observed in
the burned plots (P = 0.02), becoming similar to
that noted for the border of the plot and for the
surroundings. After 90 days, there were no significant
differences between the burned parts of the
plots, their borders and the surroundings; however,
generally decreased densities were observed,
possibly due to the seasonal reason. The observed
changes suggest the restoration of Acari community
after disturbance.
KEY WORDS: Acari, fire, forest, prescribed
burning
Natural forest fires – i.e. started by lighting
– are considered a natural force involved
in the ecosystem processes and having a significant
evolutionary importance (B ond and
Keeley 2005). Many organisms are adapted
to survive them or to recolonize the disturbed
areas (B engtsson 2002). Prescribed fires are
used in forest management to reduce fire hazard
and to create favourable conditions for
plant development (Marshall 2000).
Fire changes the structure and moisture of
soil, decreasing the quantity of organic matter
and leading to nutrient loss. It also influences
the rate of organic matter decomposition. Extinction
of vegetation after fire increases the
rate of surface runoff as well as soil temperature
(by blackening the soil surface). The sites
suitable for recolonization had become deficient
(Near y et al. 1999). Ecosystems can be
affected by fire at diverse scales, ranging from
days (short-term) to hundreds of years on the
time scale, and from a single point to thousands
of hectares on the spatial scale (Hardy
2005).
The function of soil microarthropod
communities in the ecosystem is important
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Olga Grabczyńska et al.
as – among others – they control the decomposition
of litter (Blair et. al. 1992, S cheu
and S chaefer 1998). Thus the impact of
prescribed burning and wild-fire on these
communities was broadly studied in many
environments i.e.: grasslands (Lussenhop
1976), Mediterranean phryganic ecosystem
(Sgardelis and Margaris 1993), temperate
(Dress and B oerner 2004) and boreal
forests (Haimi et. al. 2000, Wikars and
S chimmel 2001). The lethal temperature
for almost all microarthropods is under
40°C (Malmström 2008) but short-term
response of microarthropods to fire can vary
significantly and results of studies are often
contrasted. Lussenhop (1976) reported no
changes in abundance of microarthropods in
short period after fire (up to 1 month), while
Sgardelis and Margaris (1993) reported
severe reduction in abundance of microarthropods,
distinguished up to over 3 years.
The presented study is a part of the complex
investigations carried out by Department
of Soil Environmental Science of Warsaw
University of Life Sciences in cooperation
with the Main School of Fire Service. The
experiments were focused on the manner in
which fire and fire-fighting techniques affect
the organisms in forest soil.
The aim of this study was to estimate the
effect of prescribed fire upon the density and
diversity of Acari. The experiment was conducted
in “Biała Forest”, 60 km north-east
from Warsaw, in fresh pine mixed forest with
dominating podzol gley (pH 3.5) with fresh
moder humus. In forest tree layer, Scots pine
(Pinus sylvestris) was dominant, with numerous
birches (Betula pendula), while in shrub
layer – common juniper (Juniperus communis)
and Frangula alnus were dominant. In
herb layer, European blueberry (Vaccinium
myrtillus) and Sheep’s Fescue (Festuca ovina)
were most common.
In June 2005, three plots, each 1 m 2 in
size, with the same soil and vegetation, were
randomly chosen. The prescribed fire lasted
30 minutes, until total burn-out of litter and
herb layer. The mean temperature of ground
after fire was 377°C. The fire was extinguished
with the fire-fighting substances Protektol
SAT-10 and Roteor M. Both agents are waterbased
and commonly used for extinguishing
forest fires. The field experiments were assisted
by a fire-brigade. The permission from
Forest Inspectorate Ostrów Mazowiecka (letter
N-24/12/05 from 2005.05.04) was received
for this experimental burning.
Environmental data recorded during
study period – air temperature, air humidity
and litter humidity – are presented in Table 1.
Samples were collected thrice – in June,
immediately after the burning, 60 days after
the burning (August) and 90 days after the
burning (September). The time of second
sampling was chosen in order to allow Oribatida
to complete at least one generation, i.e. at
least 8 weeks (Walter and Proctor 2004).
The samples were taken with a steel corer,
from an area 10 cm 2 to the depth 5 cm. Ten
samples were taken in each sampling plot
and on each sampling occasion. In total, 90
samples were taken from three experimental
plots: 30 samples from burned plots (fire), 30
from borders of burned plots (border) and 30
from the surrounding area, at a distance of 1
m from plot the borders (surroundings).
The microrarthropods were extracted
from the samples in Tullgren’s apparatus.
Identification of Acari was based on Krantz’s
(1978) key and Soil Biology Guide (Dindal
1990). Wilcoxon non-parametric signedrank
test and Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric
analysis of variance were used.
Diversity of community was calculated
with the Shannon-Wiener index (H’). Statistical
significance of differences in the H’ index
values was checked with Hutcheson’s
(1970) test.
The density of Acari communities
immediately after the fire within burned
plots was the lowest from recorded densities
and it was significantly different from
those recorded for border (P = 0.05) and
surroundings (P = 0.0001) (Fig. 1). 60 days
after the burning, about three fold increase
of Acari densities was noted in burned plots
(P = 0.02), but there was no significant difference
between all three parts of the plots.
After 90 days, a decrease of densities in all
parts was observed, but again there were no
significant differences between recorded values
(Fig.1).
Oribatida were the dominating order during
study period (Fig. 2). Their lowest participation
rate was noted in borders, where Mesostigmata
participation increased.
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Influence of prescribed fire on soil Acari
807
m -2
Fig. 1. Mean densities (± SE) of Acari recorded in burned plots (fire), at borders of burned plots (border)
and from surroundings (1 m) of burned plots (surroundings), recorded 0, 60 and 90 days after fire. The
same letters over the columns indicate the statistical difference at the level at least P = 0.05, n = 10.
Lowest value of H’ index for diversity in
Acari communities was measured for burned
plots (Fig. 3). There were significant differences
between the H’ indexes for burned
plots and borders (P ≤0.001), burned plots
and surroundings (P ≤0.001) and for borders
and surroundings (P ≤0.05).
In presented study the abundance of microarthropods
observed immediately after
fire was significantly reduced comparing to
control. The same phenomenon i.e. the reduction
of microrarthropod numbers by fire
was reported by many authors (i.e. Metz and
Farrier 1973, Henig-Sever et al. 2001, Wikars
and S chimmel 2001). Severe reduction of
collembolan abundance was observed in experiment
conducted in similar conditions by
Olejniczak et al. (2006). Because samples were
collected immediately after fire, we can attributed
this type of massive reduction directly to
fire and high temperature on soil surface, not
to post-fire alteration of soil habitat (Wikars
and S chimmel 2001).
Significant increase of Acari abundances
60 days after fire was noted. Similar trend was
found by Wikars and S chimmel (2001).
Decrease of Acari abundance 90 days after
fire can be related to seasonal and environmental
conditions (Table 1).
Mites found at burned sites might have
appeared due to individuals moving from
adjacent undisturbed sites or from patches
not affected by fire. Many Oribatida can
move relatively fast from surroundings to
burned plots. Representatives of one of the
Fig. 2. Dominance structure (% of the total numbers
of individuals) among Acari orders recorded
in burned plots (fire), at borders of burned plots
(border) and from surroundings of burned plots
(surroundings).
most common oribatid genera, Opiella, can
migrate almost 2 meters in 3 months, many
other genera can cover a distance of 1 meter
in the same time (Ojala and Huhta 2001).
Some specimens found in burned plots
could have survived the fire. Higher survival
was observed among animals with greater
mobility in soil and a thick cuticula (Neary
et al. 1999, Wikars and Schimmel 2001).
Malmström (2008) found that Oribatida survived
higher temperatures than other groups
of soil animals, and the thick cuticule is one of
the reasons. In our study no mites with weakly
sclerotized cuticule were found in burned
plots, while Oribatida were still present.
Dress and B oerner (2004) concluded
that overall effects of fire are caused not only
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Olga Grabczyńska et al.
Table 1. Mean values of air temperature, air humidity and litter humidity were recorded at 1 p.m. for
study period (data received from Forest Inspectorate Ostrów Mazowiecka).
Month Air temperature [°C] Air humidity [%] Litter humidity [%]
June 2006 20.9 57.0 21.0
July 2006 26.4 46.0 15.0
August 2006 23.1 53.9 19.0
September 2006 19.6 53.9 19.4
Bardgett R .D., C ook R . 1998 – Functional
aspects of soil animal diversity in agricultural
grasslands – Appl. Soil Ecol. 10: 263–276.
B engtsson J. 2002 – Disturbance and resilience
in soil animal communities – Eur. J. Soil. Biol.
38: 119–125.
Blair J.M., Crossley D.A., Callaham L.C.
1992 – Effects of litter quality and microarthropods
on N dynamics and retention of exogenous
15 N in decomposing litter – Biol. Fert.
Soils, 16: 241–252.
Bond, W.J., Keeley, J.E. 2005 – Fire as a global
‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of
flammable ecosystems – TREE, 20: 387–394.
Dindal D.L. 1990 – Soil Biology Guide – Wiley
& Sons, New York, 1349 pp.
Dress W.J., Boerner R.E.J. 2004 – Patterns
of microarthropod abundance in oak-hickory
forest ecosystems in relation to prescribed fire
and landscape position – Pedobiologia, 48:
1–8.
Haimi J., Fritze H., Moilanen P. 2000 – Responses
of soil decomposer animals to woodash
fertilisation and burning in a coniferous
forest stand – Forest Ecol. Manag. 29: 53–61.
Hardy C.C. 2005 – Wildland fire hazard and
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Ecol. Manag. 211: 73–82.
Henig-Sever N., Poliakov D., Nroza M.
2001 – A novel method of estimation wildfire
intensity based on ash pH and soil microarby
the fire itself, but by the fire-induced alterations
in environment. Post fire changes
in soil structure, like presence of ash, can be
responsible for further reduction of soil microarthropod
abundance (Haimi et al. 2000,
Lirii et al. 2002). However, in our study,
similar values of microarthropod density in
burned and control (surroundings) parts of
plots have been found 60 days after the fire;
this may be related to environmental factors.
Acari community diversity was lowered
by fire, but occurrence of Oribatida and
Prostigmata in dominance structure of Acari
in burned plots was similar to that recorded
in coniferous and mixed forest (Niedbała
1980). Very low abundance of Astigmata in
burned sites was also recorded by Dress and
B oerner (2004). In general, however, lack of
Astigmata in burned plots can be caused by
their susceptibility to changes of soil moisture
and high temperatures due to poorly sclerotized
cuticule (Niedbała 1980).
Fire lowers the numbers of all microarthropods.
Mites are less susceptible to fire,
high temperatures and post-fire soil altera-
Fig. 3. Dominance structure (% of the total numbers
of individuals) among Acari orders recorded
in burned plots (fire), at borders of burned plots
(border) and from surroundings of burned plots
(surroundings), for study period.
tions than springtails (Olejniczak et al.
2006). Among mites, Oribatida seem to be
the most resistant to those factors.
The appearance of both mites and springtails
in burned plots, suggest the returning
of animals and process of recolonisation of
disturbed sites and restoration of Acari community.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors
would like to thank reviewers and editors for their
valuable suggestions to the manuscript and Marta
Karpińska for language revision.
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Influence of prescribed fire on soil Acari
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Received after revision May 2009
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