Microbial biomass, ammonium, and nitrate levels in the soil across a northern hardwood/mixed conifer chronosequence.

Abstract

Wildfire is a disturbance that affects forest ecosystems and forest succession all over the world. Our study was conducted at a chronosequence that had been experimentally burned to simulate the effects of logging and wildfire on forest succession. We analyzed soil samples to determine microbial biomass (in the forms of amino N and total microbial N), ammonium content, and nitrate content in the soil across forest stands of three different ages. We found that microbial biomass was not correlated with stand age. We did find relationships between both ammonium and nitrate and stand age, as well as with microbial biomass and soil ammonium levels. The many roles of microbes in the soil are still not well known, but they do play an important role in nutrient cycling.