In: Biology
Discuss the effects of fire on soil properties
Fire significantly affects soil properties because of organic matter located on, or near, the soil surface is rapidly combusted and thereby changes in organic matter, in turn, affect several chemical, physical, and microbiological properties of the underlying soil.
Combustion allows the vaporisation of free moisture, degradation of lignin and hemicellulose, and the radiated heat also can produce secondary combustion of the litter, duff, and, in some cases, the soil humus layer. Soil heating effects soil microbes negatively, becuase they are most sensitive living organisms that have relatively low lethal-temperature thresholds.