PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

AGU: Wildfires can burn hot without ruining soil, new study finds

2013-04-23
(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON - When scientists torched an entire 22-acre watershed in Portugal in a recent experiment, their research yielded a counterintuitive result: Large, hot fires do not necessarily beget hot, scorched soil.

It's well known that wildfires can leave surface soil burned and barren, which increases the risk of erosion and hinders a landscape's ability to recover. But the scientists' fiery test found that the hotter the fire-and the denser the vegetation feeding the flames-the less the underlying soil heated up, an inverse effect which runs contrary to previous studies and conventional wisdom.

Rather, the soil temperature was most affected by the fire's speed, the direction of heat travel and the landscape's initial moisture content. These new findings could help forest managers plan when and where to ignite small controlled burns to reduce dry vegetation and restore the ecosystem in at-risk areas, said Cathelijne Stoof, the soil and water scientist who led this study as part of her PhD research at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

A report about the experiment by Stoof, who is now at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and her colleagues has been accepted for publication by Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

To study the real-world effects of landscape and fire dynamics on soil temperature, the research team mapped the watershed and installed instruments before setting the test area ablaze. During the burn the scientists monitored the fire and the resulting soil temperatures. As expected, the fire was most intense in the heavily vegetated areas, but the topsoil in these regions remained "surprisingly cool" during the duration of the fire, Stoof explained.

"Vegetation is fuel, so the areas with more vegetation had more intense fire," Stoof said. "But the heavily vegetated regions also were also more moist, which protected the soil."

The areas with the hottest soil temperatures were in direct sunlight and had sparse, dry vegetation. "Because it's already dried out, it doesn't have the moisture shield that more densely vegetated areas have to preserve the soil," Stoof said.

Other, previously observed behavior of fires could also help explain the new result, Stoof added. "Fires moving fast will quickly burn up all the vegetation and also have little effect on the soil, but slow-moving fires will have much more time to heat up the soil and burn up its organic matter and seeds," she noted.

Prior to this study, most of the research concerning fire effects on soil "took place in small scale field or laboratory settings, where they only burned small plots," Stoof said. "But these plots have less variation than a real watershed. If you have homogeneous conditions, you cannot extrapolate those results to the larger scale, where fire, soil and vegetation are heterogeneous."

Fire researcher Guillermo Rein of the Imperial College, London, called the results from Stoof and her colleagues "thought-provoking." They "go against the currently prevalent theory of soil heating," he said. "This paper ought to quickly mobilize the fire science community so that this soil heating theory can be reconfirmed, refuted or reformulated."

From the new results, Stoof has devised a strategy to minimize soil damage during controlled burns. "You need to burn heterogeneous areas in two stages," Stoof said. "Burn the driest area first when it has some moisture. The damp area will be too damp, and therefore will not carry fire. Then go back and burn the damp area when it's dried out enough so that it will burn. This way you end up with minimum soil damage."

But in order to apply the results of this study universally, soil and fire scientists need to work together and study other types of landscapes, Stoof added. "We just studied one type of environment and one fire. This experiment needs to be replicated so we can understand how different vegetation and soil types are affected. If soil scientists work with fire scientists, they can predict where the damage is going to occur and put up barriers to prevent erosion, or plan prescribed burns strategically to minimize soil depletion."



INFORMATION:

A scholarship from the International Association of Wildland Fire and a European Commission contract funded this work.

Notes for Journalists

Journalists and public information officers (PIOs) of educational and scientific institutions who have registered with AGU can download a PDF copy of this accepted article by clicking on this link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50299/abstract

Or, you may order a copy of the final paper by emailing your request to Sarah Charley at scharley@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number.

Neither the paper nor this press release are under embargo.

Title:

"Hot Fire, Cool Soil"

Authors:

Cathelijne R. Stoof: Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, Land Degradation and Development Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, and Centro de Estudos de Recursos Naturais, Ambiente e Sociedade, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra. Bencanta, Coimbra, Portugal;

Demie Moore: Land Degradation and Development Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands;

Paulo M. Fernandes: Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agro-Ambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Vila Real, Portugal;

Jetse J. Stoorvogel: Land Dynamics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands;

Ricardo E.S. Fernandes: Gabinete Técnico Florestal, Câmara Municipal da Lousã, Rua Dr. João Santos, Lousã, Portugal;

António J.D. Ferreira: Centro de Estudos de Recursos Naturais, Ambiente e Sociedade, Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra. Bencanta, Coimbra, Portugal;

Coen J. Ritsema: Land Degradation and Development Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, and Soil Physics and Land Use Team, Alterra Green World Research, Wageningen UR, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Contact information for the author:

Cathelijne Stoof, Email: Cathelijne.Stoof@cornell.edu, Phone: +1 (607)255-4992

The following news release and accompanying images can be found at http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2013/2013-14.shtml

AGU Contacts:

Sarah Charley
+1 (202) 777-7516
scharley@agu.org

Peter Weiss
+1 (202) 777-7507
pweiss@agu.org

Cornell University Press Relations Office Contact

John Carberry
+1 (607) 255-5353
jjc338@cornell.edu



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Saint Louis University, University of Toronto biologists help decode turtle genome

2013-04-23
ST. LOUIS – A group of 50 researchers from around the globe, including biology professors Daniel Warren, Ph.D., from Saint Louis University and Leslie Buck, Ph.D., from the University of Toronto, have spent the last several years sequencing and analyzing the genome of the western painted turtle and the results of their research point to some important conclusions that may be important for human health. The western painted turtle, one of the most widespread and well-studied turtles, exhibits an extraordinary ability to adapt to extreme physiological conditions and it is ...

Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for April 23, 2013

2013-04-23
1. Benefits of Suicide Screening in Primary Care Settings Unknown The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reviews evidence for upcoming recommendations on suicide screening and treatment for adults and adolescents An evidence review finds that there are screening tools to help physicians identify adults at risk for suicide, but there's no evidence that using these screening tools in primary care will actually prevent suicides in adults. There are still no proven primary care-relevant screening tools to identify suicide risk in adolescents. Suicide is the 10th leading ...

Mammograms reveal response to common cancer drug

2013-04-23
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method for assessing the effect of tamoxifen, a common drug to prevent the relapse of breast cancer. The key lies in monitoring changes in the proportion of dense tissue, which appears white on a mammogram, during treatment. Women who show a pronounced reduction in breast density during tamoxifen treatment have a fifty per cent reduction in breast cancer mortality. This tool provides doctors with the possibility to assess whether a patient is responding to tamoxifen at an early phase of treatment. Tamoxifen is a common ...

Bugs produce diesel on demand

2013-04-23
It sounds like science fiction but a team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand. While the technology still faces many significant commercialisation challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E. coli bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel and so does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils. This also means that the diesel can be used with current supplies in existing infrastructure because engines, ...

Radioactive bacteria targets metastatic pancreatic cancer

2013-04-23
VIDEO: Claudia Gravekamp, Ph.D., discusses her research on a new therapy for pancreatic cancer that uses Listeria bacteria to selectively infect tumor cells and deliver radioisotopes into them. Dr. Gravekamp is... Click here for more information. April 22, 2013 — (BRONX, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a therapy for pancreatic cancer that uses Listeria bacteria to selectively infect tumor cells and deliver radioisotopes ...

Hepatitis c-like viruses identified in bats and rodents

2013-04-23
As many as one in 50 people around the world is infected with some type of hepacivirus or pegivirus, including up to 200 million with hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver failure and liver cancer. There has been speculation that these agents arose in wildlife and jumped species to infect humans; however, little was known about their distribution in other species. In two new papers published in the journals mBio and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman ...

New light shed on early stage Alzheimer's disease

2013-04-23
The disrupted metabolism of sugar, fat and calcium is part of the process that causes the death of neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now shown, for the first time, how important parts of the nerve cell that are involved in the cell's energy metabolism operate in the early stages of the disease. These somewhat surprising results shed new light on how neuronal metabolism relates to the development of the disease. In the Alzheimer's disease brain, plaques consisting of so called amyloid-beta-peptide (Aβ) are accumulated. ...

Stanford researchers develop new method to assess options for heart-disease surgery

2013-04-23
STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a method of predicting which patients with heart disease would benefit more from surgery and which would benefit more from angioplasty. Drawing on Medicare records of more than 100,000 patients with heart disease, the team demonstrated that the effectiveness of coronary bypass surgery varied widely based on each individual's characteristics. The data enabled them to predict which type of intervention — coronary bypass surgery or coronary angioplasty — increased the chances of an ...

Scientists find antibody that transforms bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells

2013-04-23
LA JOLLA, CA – April 22, 2013 – In a serendipitous discovery, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells. Current techniques for turning patients' marrow cells into cells of some other desired type are relatively cumbersome, risky and effectively confined to the lab dish. The new finding points to the possibility of simpler and safer techniques. Cell therapies derived from patients' own cells are widely expected to be useful in treating spinal cord injuries, strokes and other conditions ...

Geochemical method finds links between terrestrial climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide

2013-04-23
Nearly thirty-four million years ago, the Earth underwent a transformation from a warm and high-carbon dioxide "greenhouse" state to a lower-CO2, variable climate of the modern "icehouse" world. Massive ice sheets grew across the Antarctic continent, major animal groups shifted, and ocean temperatures decreased by up to 5 degrees. But studies of how this drastic change affected temperatures on land have had mixed results. Some show no appreciable terrestrial climate change; others find cooling of up to 8 degrees and large changes in seasonality. Now, a group of American ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Process for dealing with sexual misconduct by doctors requires major reform

Severe pregnancy sickness raises risk of mental health conditions by over 50%

Early humans may have walked from Türkiye to mainland Europe, new groundbreaking research suggests

New study shows biochar’s electrical properties can influence rice field methane emissions

Guangdong faces largest chikungunya outbreak on record

Tirzepatide improves blood sugar control in children aged 10-17 years with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on existing therapies (SURPASS-PEDS trial)

An old drug, in a low dose, shown to be safe and effective in preventing progression of type 1 diabetes in children and young people (MELD-ATG trial)

Study reports potential effects of verapamil in slowing progression of type 1 diabetes

Fresh hope for type 1 diabetes as daily pill that slows onset confirms promise at 2-year follow-up

New estimates predict over 4 million missing people who would be alive in 2025 if not for inadequate type 1 diabetes care

So what should we call this – a grue jay?

Chicago Quantum Exchange-led coalition advances to final round in NSF Engine competition

Study identifies candidates for therapeutic targets in pediatric germ cell tumors

Media alert: The global burden of CVD

Study illuminates contributing factors to blood vessel leakage

What nations around the world can learn from Ukraine

Mixing tree species does not always make forests more drought-resilient

Public confidence in U.S. health agencies slides, fueled by declines among Democrats

“Quantum squeezing” a nanoscale particle for the first time

El Niño spurs extreme daily rain events despite drier monsoons in India

Two studies explore the genomic diversity of deadly mosquito vectors

Zebra finches categorize their vocal calls by meaning

Analysis challenges conventional wisdom about partisan support for US science funding

New model can accurately predict a forest’s future

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered

Overcoming the barriers of hydrogen storage with a low-temperature hydrogen battery

Tuberculosis vulnerability of people with HIV: a viral protein implicated

Partnership with Kenya's Turkana community helps scientists discover genes involved in adaptation to desert living

Decoding the selfish gene, from evolutionary cheaters to disease control

[Press-News.org] AGU: Wildfires can burn hot without ruining soil, new study finds