U.S. Wildfire Cost-Plus-Loss Economics Project
SOIL & PRODUCTIVITY
Erskine Creek drainage, September 2008. Erskine Creek drains the northwester Piute Mountains in Kern County, California. This photograph shows erosion following the Piute Fire, which burned 37,000 acres in USDA Sequoia National Forest and adjacent USDI Bureau of Land Management lands in June and July, 2008. (Photo by Lee Belau, retired US Forest Service).
Soil-related effects. Soil erosion can occur during a wildfire due to fire-induced wind, or from suppression actions. Soils can be baked, as well. Indirect losses include investments in fertilization, scientific research, and planning. Post-fire losses include decreased soil productivity, increased soil erosion, and post-fire soil rehabilitation, erosion and sediment mitigation, and project administration.
Case Studies.
2002 Biscuit Fire, Oregon (Bormann et al. 2008)
General References.
Giesen, T. W., S. S. Perakis, and Kermit Cromack, Jr. 2008. "Four centuries of soil carbon and nitrogen change after stand-replacing fire in a forest landscape in the western Cascade Range of Oregon," Canadian Journal of Forest Research. Vol. 38: 2455-2464.
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© 2009 Oregon Websites & Watersheds Project, Inc. and Western Institute for the Study of the Environment.