The effect of heat in soil organic matter (SOM). Experience from controlled burning experiments of unaltered soil blocks

Abstract

3 pages, 1 figure, 8 references.-- Comunicación oral presentada en Session 1. Pyrogenic C: Distribution and stability, en European Science Foundation-Exploratory Workshop, celebrado del 5-7 de noviembre 2013, en Sevilla, España.Wildfire is an important disturbance factor in many ecosystems, especially in the Mediterranean Basin (Keeley et al., 2012). Forest fires exert changes in soil organic matter (SOM) quality and quantity (González‐Pérez et al., 2004) that in turn affect relevant and closely related characteristics like soil runoff and erosion response, due to changes on factors like wettability and aggregation (Certini et al., 2011; Mataix‐Solera et al., 2011). The effects of heat in SOM are highly variable and dependent of many interrelated factors (Badía et al., 2011).Peer reviewe