Utilizing five predictor covariates (solar radiation, burn severity, soil productivity, temperature, and precipitation), spatio-temporal analysis revealed how landscape controls and climate (summer vegetation moisture stress) affected patterns of NPP according to vegetation functional type, species cover type, and successional stage.
The PESERA model performed reasonably well in predicting soil losses, but needs a better characterization of soil burn severity in the soil inputs (crusting and erodibility) because of the high sensitivity of the model to these parameters.
We examined some microbial and physical chemical properties of burned soil to understand the response of soil microbial activity to different fire severities one year after burning.
Our results show that after burning soil organic carbon (OC) increased in the burned soils during the first two growing seasons.
In contrast, 12 d after burning soil respiration was 21% lower in the burned plots, coinciding with lower soil water content in the same plots.
Above that layer, where the waxlike substances are gone, the veneer of burned soil is "wettable".
Such areas are vulnerable to flash flooding because burned soil does not absorb as much water.
Further demonstrating how waterproof this burned soil really is, Wells pours half a pound of it, like loose brown sugar, into a beaker of water.
In 2008, Greenpeace sampled the burned soil at Agbogbloshie and found high levels of lead, cadmium, antimony, PCBs and chlorinated dioxins.
Results indicated that burned soil surfaces were rougher than unburned soil surfaces.
