Post-Fire Evolution of Soil Nitrogen in a Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii) Forest, Northeast China

Abstract

This study investigates the evolution of soil nitrogen (N) contents and forms along a 17-year wildfire chronosequence in the Daxing’an Mountains. Surface soil and subsoil samples were collected during different recovery periods after wildfires. Then, the mineral N (i.e., NH4+-N and NO3−-N) and amino acid-N (AAN) contents in the soil extracts were measured and used to calculate the different ratios as indicators of the N forms. The results showed that the NH4+-N, NO3−-N, and AAN contents increased immediately after the wildfire. With vegetation restoration, the NH4+-N and NO3−-N contents became similar to those of unburned forests nine years and two months after the wildfire, respectively. The AAN content was mostly recovered one year post-fire. The wildfire did not lead to substantial changes in the mineral N form, but the ratio significantly increased and recovered after nine years. The soil available N form was altered by wildfires. After the wildfire, the dominant available N form changed from equivalent AAN and mineral N to a predominance of AAN in the growing season, and the predominance of AAN decreased to varying degrees in the non-growing season. With the recovery of the white birch and Dahurian larch, AAN again became the dominant N form, but the predominance of AAN was low before the freeze-up. Our study demonstrates that wildfires directly affect the soil N contents and forms, and such effects could be diminished by the restoration of the soil environment and vegetation over time.