Fire Effects on Soils

Code:	LTC20001
Principal Investigator:	doc. Magdalena Vaverková (MENDELU Brno)
Department's Principal Investigator:	doc. Ing. David Zumr, Ph.D.
Co-operation:	Mendelova univerzita v Brně / Agronomická fakulta
Start:	2020-06-01
End:	2023-04-23
Research focus:	The latest statistics show the increasing trends in the number of fires and related impacts worldwide. The fires are becoming more severe also in the Central Europe. Fires always have an impact on the environment. There is a lack of data on post-fire contaminants in soils and long-term effects of fire. Limitation of using classical analyses of soils is that the compounds present in trace amounts remain undetected and their biological effects remain underestimated. There is a need to search for new, adequate remediation/restoration technologies in this area. The conducted research, which will be carried out in forested and agricultural areas, will allow determination of the impacts of fire on the soil environment and further direction of action towards restoration (including phytoremediation) of the area. The impacts will be evaluated from the physical, chemical and biological perspectives. Concretely a comparative study on the burned and unburned experimental plots will be done to observe the differences in soil hydraulic conductivity, surface hydrophobicity, soil aggregates stability, soil chemical properties related to the pollutants mobility.The optimal restoration method will be proposed with the indication of additives (compost and food waste compost) supporting mobilization and/or immobilization of pollutants, moisture retention in the soil as well as relevant plant species that will support phytoremediation and restoration processes.

Research team members at the departement:

Publications:

LI, T., et al. Effects of prescribed fire on topsoil properties: a small-scale straw burning experiment. Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics. 2022, 70(4), 450-461. ISSN 0042-790X. DOI 10.2478/johh-2022-0032.

WINKLER, J., et al. Significance of Urban Vegetation on Lawns Regarding the Risk of Fire. SUSTAINABILITY. 2021, 13(19), ISSN 2071-1050. DOI 10.3390/su131911027. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/11027/htm

FERNANDEZ-ANEZ, N., et al. Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives. Air Soil and Water Research. 2021, 14 1-19. ISSN 1178-6221. DOI 10.1177/11786221211028185. Available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/11786221211028185