Post-fire restoration impacts on soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean region

Fire is a natural element of the landscape; however, it can also have serious effects on the environment. Although the effect of fire on plant communities has been broadly studied, we lack information on the effect of fire on soils. Several types of post-fire treatments have been applied in Mediterranean areas for soil protection and potential regeneration of soil fertility, i.e. logging or mulching. Yet, the effect of these treatments on the soil biodiversity are not fully understood.

Here, using different soil physical and biological approaches methods, we analysed the impacts of different post-fire treatments on the composition and diversity of microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) in a Mediterranean forest. Our results showed substantial differences in the responses of the fungal community to the different post-fire treatments, i.e. straw mulching and salvage logging . Opposite, the soil bacterial community was not affected by the post-fire treatments. Overall, soil fungi were more sensitive than bacteria to fire, but the recovery of this taxa following the fire event was faster. Our results can provide useful information for restoration of fire-impacted areas in the Mediterranean region.