Early post-fire changes of Pinus brutia forests in the Amanos Mountains (Turkey)

Abstract

We studied the species composition and soil nutrients in a Pinus brutia forest after a fire that occurred in 1989. Four permanent plots were created in the burnt and not burnt areas in the Amanos Mountains of Turkey. The floristic richness, biological spectra, above ground phytomass and soil features in the study areas were assessed during the first three years after the fire. After the fire, we found a reduced amount of organic matter (14.3%), total nitrogen (22%) and soil water saturation (13.1%), but an increased amount of available phosphorus (71%), acidity (3.6%), cation exchange capacity (9.9%), exchangeable sodium (20.8%) and exchangeable potassium (37.1%). The aboveground phytomass in the burned area reached 5284 kg ha–1, the third year after the fire. Forty-six pre-fire species were renewed in the first three years after the fire. Juniperus oxycedrus could not renew within three years after the fire. Pine phytomass has increased five times within three years after the fire.