Changes in soil chemistry six months after prescribed fire in a longleaf pine plantation in Mississippi
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Prescribed fire is used to reduce hardwood competition, enhance herbaceous biodiversity, and improve forage quality in longleaf pine stands. These are primarily low intensity, dormant season burns, during which a portion of the biomass in shrub, herb, and the forest floor layers are combusted. Burning releases elemental nutrients bound in biomass, and there are several potential shortterm outcomes: 1) volatilization, 2) surface deposition, 3) uptake by autotrophs, 4) stabilization in soil, and 5) leaching. Several studies have examined long-term effects of repeated burn cycles in southern pine stands [e.g., Binkley and others (1992)] or periods of 1 to 3 years post-burn [e.g., Lavoie and others (2010)], though no significant changes in mineral soil C or N have been reported after one year. There are no detailed reports of intra-annual effects of prescribed fire on soil chemistry in longleaf pine stands. Dormant season burns are followed by leaf-out and the growing season, when uptake of newly released nutrients would be likely to occur.