Fire and soils : key concepts and recent advances

Abstract

It is clear that, in some climates, fires are a natural phenomenon, they have occurred for millennia and plants have revealed the capacity to cope with them (Pausas et al., 2008). It is also known that wildland fires are a global phenomenon occurring in tropical, temperate and boreal regions (González-Pérez et al., 2004; Bowman et al., 2009). Fire regimes are being modified, responding to ongoing global changes and poor forest planning in terms of frequency, size, seasonality, recurrence and fire intensity and severity, with deleterious impacts on soil fertility and structure and important implications for forest management and sustainability (Bento-Gonçalves et al., 2011). In the extensive research that exists on the effect of fire on ecosystems there is a growing interest and body of literature on the effects of fire on soil properties. This paper aims to review the latest developments regarding intrinsic characteristics of fires, fire intensity and severity, wildland fires, prescribed fires, fire regimes and soil protection measures.