engleski

IMPACT OF FIRE ON THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOIL IN THE DALMATIA (CROATIAN MEDITERRANEAN AREA)

During the last decade, rapid climatic changes have been occurred and through frequent fires strongly affected agricultural production and landscape in general. In Croatia the greatest danger of fire had Dalmatian region with almost 30 000 fires in the period from 1998 to 2008. Fire affects soil through its ability to transform soil and ecosystem components and changes in soil chemical properties. Fire can also mineralize organically bound elements such as N, P, and base cations which are then available for uptake by plants or leaching from the soil. During vegetation period in 2012 different soil samples (0-5 cm) were taken depending on: slope, elevation and vegetation characteristics from very healthy shrublands, not arable, which have been diversely affected by wildfires in recent decade. On each location samples in three replicates were taken – from burned and from unburned area in order to determine the possible differences between samples. This paper presents the results of research of wildfires influence on changes in soil chemical properties soil acidity (pH), changes in plant available phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), total nitrogen (TN), total carbon (TC), total sulfur (TS), carbon/nitrogen (C/N) and nitrogen/sulfur (N/S) ratios.

climate change; chemical soil properties; Dalmatian region; wildfire

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