The effects of forest fire on soil, hydrology, and the balance of ecologically significant elements in the context of the vegetation


Principal Investigator:	Biologické centrum AV ČR, dr. MIloslav Devetter
Department's Principal Investigator:	doc. Ing. David Zumr, Ph.D.
Co-operation:	Biologické centrum AV ČR, v. v. i. Česká geologická služba Geologický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i.
Start:	2024-04-01
End:	2026-12-31
Research focus:	The project deals with the interaction between soil, precipitation, vegetation and soil fauna. The objective is to 1) evaluate the influence of different vegetation types preceding a forest fire on soil properties, 2) describe the consequences of fire on precipitation-runoff relationships, and 3) evaluate the mobility of substances in the soil and watershed and their relationship as a function of soil organic matter composition and burn rate of the basin under study. The presented project benefits from the opportunity of a large-scale forest fire in the České Švýcarsko NP in 2022, which allows measurements depending on the vegetation cover, infiltration, precipitation and runoff, which has fundamental consequences for nature conservation and management of areas before and after a fire.