Methods for evaluating the impact of fires within tropical forests are needed as fires become more frequent and human populations and demands on forests increase. Short- and long-term fire effects on soils are determined by the prefire, fire, and postfire environments. We placed these components within a fire-disturbance continuum to guide our literature synthesis and develop an integrated soil burn severity index. The soil burn severity index provides a set of indicators that reflect the range of conditions present after a fire. The index consists of seven levels, an unburned level and six other levels that describe a range of postfire soil conditions. We view this index as a tool for understanding the effects of fires on the forest floor, with the realization that as new information is gained, the index may be modified as warranted.
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1 December 2008
A Soil Burn Severity Index for Understanding Soil-fire Relations in Tropical Forests
Theresa B. Jain,
William A. Gould,
Russell T. Graham,
David S. Pilliod,
Leigh B. Lentile,
Grizelle González
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AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
Vol. 37 • No. 7
December 2008
Vol. 37 • No. 7
December 2008
