Wildfire impacts on soil-water retention in the Colorado Front Range, United States
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Abstract
This work examined the plot-scale differences in soil-water retention caused by wildfire in the area of the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire in the Colorado Front Range, United States. We measured soil-water retention curves on intact cores and repacked samples, soil particle-size distributions, and organic matter content. Estimates were also made of plant-available water based on the soil-water retention curves. Parameters for use in soil-hydraulic property models were estimated; these parameters can be used in unsaturated flow modeling for comparing burned and unburned watersheds. The primary driver for measured differences in soil-water retention in burned and unburned soils was organic matter content and not soil-particle size distribution. The tendency for unburned south-facing soils to have greater organic matter content than unburned north-facing soils in this field area may explain why unburned south-facing soils had greater soil-water retention than unburned north-facing soils. Our results suggest that high-severity wildfire can “homogenize” soil-water retention across the landscape by erasing soil-water retention differences resulting from organic matter content, which for this site may be affected by slope aspect. This homogenization could have important implications for ecohydrology and plant succession/recovery in burned areas, which could be a factor in dictating the window of vulnerability of the landscape to flash floods and erosion that are a common consequence of wildfire.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Wildfire impacts on soil-water retention in the Colorado Front Range, United States |
| Series title | Water Resources Research |
| DOI | 10.1029/2012WR012362 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Year Published | 2012 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | AGU Publications |
| Contributing office(s) | National Research Program - Central Branch |
| Description | W12515; 12 p. |
| First page | 1 |
| Last page | 12 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |