Fire regime impacts on soil microbes, soil organic carbon and ground cover in an Australian tropical savanna

Marissa H. Blunden; Luke Florence; Susanna R. Bryceson; Gary J. Clark; John W. Morgan; Jennifer L. Wood

doi:10.1071/WF24035

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 33(12)

Fire regime impacts on soil microbes, soil organic carbon and ground cover in an Australian tropical savanna

Marissa H. Blunden

^A ^* , Luke Florence ^B , Susanna R. Bryceson ^B , Gary J. Clark ^C , John W. Morgan ^B ^D and Jennifer L. Wood ^A ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Department of Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic 3083, Australia.

^B Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic 3083, Australia.

^C Department of Animals, Plants and Soil Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic 3083, Australia.

^D Research Centre for Future Landscapes, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic 3083, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: marissa.blunden@gmail.com

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF24035 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF24035

Submitted: 21 February 2024 Accepted: 11 November 2024 Published: 2 December 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

Soil microbes drive the carbon cycle, yet are understudied in relation to long-term fire regimes in tropical savannas.

Aim

Explore the impact of fire regime on soil microbes and organic carbon.

Methods

We sampled topsoils (0–10 cm) of a tropical savanna near Darwin, Australia, where the frequency and season of fire had been experimentally managed for 17 years. We measured the effects of fire regime on microbial abundance, fungal-to-bacterial (F:B) ratio, soil physicochemistry (organic carbon, total nitrogen, C:N ratio, pH) and vegetative ground cover (grasses, leaf litter).

Key results

Microbial abundance was most influenced by fire season, minimally affected by fire frequency and reduced by both grass and litter cover; the magnitude of grass cover effect differed among paleoecological groups (i.e. ancient and modern). Soil organic carbon was not affected by fire treatments, nor was the F:B ratio.

Conclusions

Our data indicate that soil organic carbon, microbial abundance and F:B ratio are slow to change in a tropical savanna despite 17 years of imposed fire regimes.

Implications

Soil microbes in savanna ecosystems may have evolved resilience to variable fire regimes and the potential for soil carbon sequestration in Australia from fire suppression is likely limited within human timescales.

Keywords: Australia, bacteria, carbon sequestration, F:B ratio, fire management, fungal-to-bacterial ratio, fungi, microbial abundance, paleoecological grass groups, tropical savanna.

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