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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 19(5)

Paired Eucalyptus forest catchment study of prescribed fire effects on suspended sediment and nutrient exports in south-eastern Australia

Hugh G. Smith A B C , Gary J. Sheridan A B , Patrick N. J. Lane A B and Christopher B. Sherwin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.

B Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: hgsmith@unimelb.edu.au

International Journal of Wildland Fire 19(5) 624-636 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF08208
Submitted: 24 December 2008  Accepted: 12 January 2010   Published: 9 August 2010

Abstract

The effect of prescribed fire on suspended sediment and nutrient exports was investigated in two small Eucalyptus forest catchments in south-eastern Australia. In 2005, a patchy, mostly low-severity prescribed fire was applied to both catchments, followed in 2006 by a second burn applied to riparian areas of one catchment, with the other catchment utilised as a control for this burn. Historic pre-fire weekly stream water sampling was combined with post-fire weekly and storm-based sampling to quantify the effect of the fires. The 2005 fire resulted in a significant difference (P = 0.000) in suspended sediment concentrations compared to pre-fire data and generated peak study period suspended sediment (11.5 kg ha–1 year–1) and total phosphorous (0.016 kg ha–1 year–1) exports under near-average rainfall. However, peak suspended sediment exports only slightly exceeded the average annual load from a nearby undisturbed catchment. Well-below-average rainfall in 2006 resulted in lower exports after this burn compared with the 2005 fire. The results highlighted the importance of hydrological conditions for suspended sediment and nutrient exports within the first 12–18 months after prescribed fires, beyond which generally rapid surface vegetation recovery is likely to mitigate any burns effects.


Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry and the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). The authors would like to thank John Costenaro and Philip Noske for sample collection and field support and the DSE fire crews who assisted with planning and lighting the prescribed burns. Gabi Szegedy is thanked for sample preparation, and Matt Lee and Najib Ahmady for laboratory analyses. Two anonymous referees are thanked for their comments, which helped improve the manuscript.


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