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Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Effects of Fire on Soils and Water

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United States Department of Agriculture Wildland Fire in Forest Service Rocky Mountain Ecosystems Research Station General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42- volume 4 Effects of Fire on Soil and Water September 2005 Abstract _____________________________________ Neary, Daniel G.; Ryan, Kevin C.; DeBano, Leonard F., eds. 2005. (revised 2008). Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on soils and water. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol.4. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 250 p. This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on soils and water can assist land and fire managers with information on the physical, chemical, and biological effects of fire needed to successfully conduct ecosystem management, and effectively inform others about the role and impacts of wildland fire. Chapter topics include the soil resource, soil physical properties and fire, soil chemistry effects, soil biology responses, the hydrologic cycle and water resources, water quality, aquatic biology, fire effects on wetland and riparian systems, fire effects models, and watershed rehabilitation. Keywords: ecosystem, fire effects, fire regime, fire severity, soil, water, watersheds, rehabilitation, soil properties, hydrology, hydrologic cycle, soil chemistry, soil biology, fire effects models The larger bold check-mark boxes indicate the volumes in “The Rainbow Series” currently published. To order, check any box or boxes below, fill in the address form, and send to the mailing address listed below. Or send your order and your address in mailing label form to one of the other listed media. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 1. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on fauna. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 2. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 3. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on cultural resources and archeology. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 4. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on soil and water. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 5. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on air. Send to: ________________________________________________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________________________________ Address Cover photo—Left photo: Wildfire encroaching on a riparian area, Montana, 2002. (Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management, National Interagency Fire Center, Image Portal); Right photo: BAER team member, Norm Ambos, Tonto National Forest, testing for water repellancy, Coon Creek Fire 2002, Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest, Arizona. Wildland Fire in Ecosystems Effects of Fire on Soil and Water Editors Daniel G. Neary, Project Leader, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Kevin C. Ryan, Project Leader, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT 59807 Leonard F. DeBano, Adjunct Professor, School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 Authors Johanna D. Landsberg, Research Soil Scientist (Re- tired), Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Depart- Jan L. Beyers, Research Ecologist, Pacific Southwest ment of Agriculture, Forest Service, Wenatchee, WA Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, For- 98801 est Service, Riverside, CA 92507 Daniel G. Neary, Project Leader, Rocky Mountain Re- James K. Brown, Research Forester, Systems for Envi- search Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest ronmental Management, Missoula, MT 59802 (formerly Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 with Fire Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Re- James R. Reardon, Physical Science Technician, Rocky search Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agricul- Service). ture, Forest Service, Missoula, MT59807 Matt D. Busse, Research Microbiologist, Pacific South- John N. Rinne, Research Fisheries Biologist, Rocky west Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agricul- Forest Service, Redding, CA 96001 ture, Forest Service, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Leonard F. DeBano, Adjunct Professor, School of Re- Peter R. Robichaud, Research Engineer, Rocky Moun- newable Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tuc- tain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, son, AZ 85721 Forest Service, Moscow, ID 83843 William J. Elliot, Project Leader, Rocky Mountain Re- Kevin C. Ryan, Project Leader, Rocky Mountain Re- search Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest search Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Moscow, ID 83843 Service, Missoula, MT59807 Peter F. Ffolliott, Professor, School of Renewable Natu- Arthur R. Tiedemann, Research Soil Scientist (Re- ral Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 tired), Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Depart- Gerald R. Jacoby, Professor Emeritus, Eastern New ment of Agriculture, Forest Service, Wenatchee, WA Mexico University, Portales, NM 88130 98801 Jennifer D. Knoepp, Research Soil Scientist, Southern Malcolm J. Zwolinski, Assistant Director and Professor, Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, For- School of Renewable Natural Resources, University of est Service, Otto, NC 28763 Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 i Preface _____________________________________ In 1978, a national workshop on fire effects in Denver, Colorado provided the impetus for the “Effects of Wildland Fire on Ecosystems” series. Recognizing that knowledge of fire was needed for land management planning, state-of-the-knowledge reviews were produced that became known as the “Rainbow Series.” The series consisted of six publications, each with a different colored cover (frequently referred to as the Rainbow series), describing the effects of fire on soil (Wells and others 1979), water (Tiedemann and others 1979), air (Sandberg and others 1979), flora (Lotan and others 1981), fauna (Lyon and others 1978), and fuels (Martin and others 1979). The Rainbow Series proved popular in providing fire effects information for professionals, students, and others. Printed supplies eventually ran out, but knowledge of fire effects continued to grow. To meet the continuing demand for summaries of fire effects knowledge, the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group asked Forest Service research leaders to update and revise the series. To fulfill this request, a meeting for organizing the revision was held January 46, 1993 in Scottsdale, AZ. The series name was then changed to “The Rainbow Series.” The five-volume series covers air, soil and water, fauna, flora and fuels, and cultural resources. The Rainbow Series emphasizes principles and processes rather than serving as a summary of all that is known. However, it does provide a lot of useful information and sources for more detailed study of fire effects. The five volumes, taken together, provide a wealth of information and examples to advance understanding of basic concepts regarding fire effects in the United States and Canada. While this volume focuses on the United States and Canada, there are references to information and examples from elsewhere in the world (e.g. Australia, South Africa, Spain, Zimbabwe, and others) to support the statements made. As conceptual background, they provide technical support to fire and resource managers for carrying out interdisciplinary planning, which is essential to managing wildlands in an ecosystem context. Planners and managers will find the series helpful in many aspects of ecosystem-based management, but they also have the responsibility to seek out and synthesize the detailed information needed to resolve specific management questions. –– The Authors Acknowledgments____________________________ The Rainbow Series was completed under the sponsorship of the Joint Fire Sciences Program, a cooperative fire science effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service. We thank Marcia Patton- Mallory and Louise Kingsbury for support and persistence to make this revision possible. We would like to dedicate this particular volume to a former USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station research scientist, Steve S. Sackett, for his career-long commit- ment to research on the effects of fire on soils, to a former Rocky Mountain Research Station research scientist Roger D. Hungerford for his contributions to organic soil consumption and soil heating, and to the late Benee F. Swindel, a former USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station scientist and Project Leader, for his counseling in the art of “perseverance”. The lead editor wishes to thank the following for insightful and helpful reviews, suggestions, information, and assistance that led to substantial technical and editorial improvements in the manuscript: Leonard DeBano, Peter Ffolliott, Randy Gimblett, George Ice, Marty Jurgensen, Karen Koestner, Dave Maurer, Kevin Ryan, Peter Robichaud, and Larry Schmidt. ii Contents________________________________________________ Page Page Summary .......................................................................... vii Soil Erosion ....................................................................... 41 Processes and Mechanics ........................................ 41 Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................... 1 Postfire
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