It will take up to eight decades, not 10 to 15 years, for forest soil damaged by logging or wildfires to recover, revealed a new study.
A team of scientists investigated the soil of the Ash Mountain in Victoria, Australia, which, in 2009, experienced a wildfire that ravaged tens of thousands of hectares of forests. While initial estimates claim that it would only take a decade to recover, the team found that, 10 years later, the forest ground is still reeling from the damage. This includes the areas where trees are regrowing.
Their findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Forest Soil Remembers The Damage
Much has been said about the importance of plants and trees to the ecosystem and to the fight against global warming, but the soil from which they grow is important too. Soil plays a crucial role in forests, influencing plant growth and survival. Soil also absorbs and stores carbon.
Despite reforestation efforts, scientists know now that it will take a long time for soil ravaged by forest fire and deforestation to go back to its original state. However, they seriously underestimated how long it will take to recover.
The team of scientists compared key soil measures in forests that have been undisturbed since the 1850s, forests burned by major fires from way back in 1939 to as recent as 2009, forests that were clearfell-logged in the 1980s and 2009-2010, and forests that were salvage-logged in a 2009-2010 wildfire.
They found that the impact of these destructive events continued to manifest almost a decade later. Forest soil after a wildfire might need at least 80 years to recover. Forest soil where clearfell-logging occur might need at least 30 years to recover.
Moreover, the scientists warned that the effects of a wildfire on the soil could even persist up to 150 years. They explained that, during a fire, the temperature could exceed 500 degrees Celsius, causing nutrient loss and structural changes.
Impact To The Climate
"First of all, it suggests that when we're thinking about sustainable management of forests we have to think not only about the trees and the rest of the forest including biodiversity, but now we also have to think deeply about the soils," said David Lindenmayer, a professor at the Australian National University and an author of the study.
The study comes after climate experts warned about more frequent forest fires due to climate change. The team hopes that their findings will lead to long-term sustainable forest management to conserve soil conditions.