Postfire changes in soil properties of Pinus brutia Ten. forests in Marmaris National Park, Turkey

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine long-term postfire changes in physical and chemical properties of soils of Pinus brutia Ten. forests in Marmaris National Park, Turkey. The synchronie method was used: three sites burned in different years (2, 6 and 22 years ago) and a control site which had not burned at least 45 years were selected to form a successional gradient. Chemical (organic material %, nitrogen %, exchangeable cation content, electrical conductivity, pH) and physical (soil texture structure) analyses of soil samples collected from different soil layers (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm) were performed. It was detected that postfire soil chemical properties change after fire, but return its prefire levels in a short period of time and this result fits the general idea on postfire soil properties in Mediterranean environments. There was not any important change in soil texture after fire. Soil pH was very low in 22-year-old site because of the soil erosion occured immediately after fire. Since postfire changes in soil properties may facilitate or restrict plant regeneration, it is important to have an information on postfire soil properties of the burned area to decide a postfire management strategy.