Ground layer carbon and nitrogen cycling and legume nitrogen inputs following fire in mixed pine forests

Abstract

Many mixed pine forests in the southeastern United States undergo prescribed burning to promote open pine savannas. In these systems, soil texture can influence fire's effect on vegetation and nutrient cycling. Our objectives were to examine fire and soil texture effects on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools in ground layer vegetation. We measured biomass and tissue nutrient concentrations and estimated legume N inputs via N2 fixation in frequently burned sandy and clayey sites that were in the first and second seasons following a prescribed fire in 2002 (B02) or had been unburned since 2000 (B00). Mean belowground biomass was significantly greater on sandy than on clayey sites. Total aboveground mean biomass did not differ significantly between B00 and B02 sites, but grasses had greater aboveground biomass in clayey than in sandy sites. Carbon and N pools (measured in grams per square meter) in grasses were greater in clayey than in sandy sites, yet grasses had greater tissue concentrations of C (as a percentage) in sandy sites. Legumes showed significant interaction effects between soil texture and fire frequency for tissue C and N pools, above‐ and belowground biomass, and acetylene reduction activities. Results suggest that soil texture can influence fire effects on ground layer vegetation in southeastern mixed pine forests.