It is now well understood that wildfire can have a significant impact on vegetation communities and soil characteristics in many parts of the world. In particular, soil water repellency can be either induced or destroyed depending on the fire’s intensity, vegetation communities and soil physical properties. Additionally, entire forests can be completely destroyed. Although there have been numerous studies published that have looked at the immediate effects of wildfire on soils and the short-term re-establishment of vegetation communities, the longer term recovery of soils and vegetation are poorly reported.
This session seeks to gain a better understanding on the long-term recovery of forest biomass and spatial temporal patterns in soil water repellency as a function of fire severity and post-fire climatic conditions. For example, how long does it take for forest communities to recover to pre-fire biomass equivalents?, how long does it take for soils to recover their pre-fire soil physical properties?, how long does it take for soil water repellency to return to pre-fire conditions?
Contributors are invited to present results from studies that span at least several years to explore similarities and differences in the soil-vegetation responses to wildfire events from around the world. We are particularly interested in researchers who are using remote sensing technologies and statistical methodologies to better understand how soils and vegetation communities recover after wildfire.