Forest Fire Effects on Gelisols' Soil Physical, Chemical and Biological Properties

Abstract

Owing to climate change, forest fires are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity over the next 100 years. Since most soils in the Arctic are classified as Gelisols (i.e. are characterized by permafrost), forest fires have the potential to cause a major shift in soil physical and chemical properties. We hypothesize that forest fires will alter Gelisols' soil physical and chemical properties to the extent of changing their soil taxonomic classification. Fire may affect important soil characteristics, including the concentration of nutrients (including organic matter), soil structure, and water holding capacity. Shifts in these characteristics are hypothesized to destabilize soil physical and chemical characteristics, weakening the Army's ability to operate within fire-afflicted areas. Fires also release substantial quantities of greenhouse gases from the carbon-rich Arctic soils, creating a positive feedback loop that further accelerates climate change.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2022
Accession Number
AD1186971

Entities

People

  • Benjamin D. Kocar

Organizations

  • Engineer Research and Development Center

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Chemical Properties
  • Climate Change
  • Copyrights
  • Data Acquisition
  • Data Management
  • Data Sets
  • Economic Security
  • Fires
  • Forest Fires
  • Forests
  • Greenhouse Gases
  • Intellectual Property
  • Law
  • Measurement
  • Operating Systems
  • Security
  • Soils
  • Spreadsheet Software
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Agricultural Chemistry/Soil Science
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Wetland-Land-Environmental Management.