Neutral Sugar Content and Composition as a Sensitive Indicator of Fire Severity in the Andisols of an Araucaria–Nothofagus Forest in Southern Chile

Journal
Sustainability
ISSN
2071-1050
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Yessica Rivas
Jorge Retamal-Salgado
Heike Knicker
Francisco Matus
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85118587483
WoS ID
WOS:000719419000001
DOI
URL
URL Institutional Repository
Abstract
Wildfire induces soil alterations that have a long-term impact on soil organic matter (SOM) quality. We postulated that after different fire severities, the neutral sugars in soils can be used as an indicator of soil organic matter quality after fire. The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of neutral sugar, bulk and occluded particulate organic matter (oPOM) affected by wildfire, at different soil depths in an Araucaria–Nothofagus Forest, four years post-after fire. The concentration and composition of the neutral sugars in the soils clearly comprised the major fraction in the unburned soil. Medium- and high-severity fires caused a drastic reduction in soil sugars in the bulk soil as well as in the oPOM fractions. The 13C-CPMAS NMR spectroscopy analysis revealed a high contribution of recalcitrant carbon to the decomposition such as aryl–C and aryl–O derived from charred material, whereas the abundance of O–alkyl C and alkyl C functional groups were decreased. The neutral sugars (Galactose+Mannose/Xilose+Arabinose) revealed a major microbial origin in fire affected areas as the ratio was >2. Therefore. Therefore, we suggest that the neutral sugar content of soil should be used for monitoring both short- and long-term changes in SOM altered by fires.
Cite this document
Rivas, Y., Retamal-Salgado, J., Knicker, H., Matus, F., & Rivera, D. (2021). Neutral sugar content and composition as a sensitive indicator of fire severity in the andisols of an araucaria–nothofagus forest in southern chile. Sustainability, 13(21), 12061. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112061
Subjects
non-cellulosic carbohydrates

; 

c-13 nmr

; 

forest fires

; 

opom fractions

; 

araucaria

; 

brazil

; 

chile

; 

parana [brazil]

; 

indicator indicator

; 

nothofagus

; 

forest

; 

particulate organic matter

; 

reduction

; 

soil organic matter

; 

spectroscopy

; 

sugar

; 

wildfire