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The Affect of Temperature on Soil Composition

The Affect of Temperature on Soil Composition. Kellie Bowen Lórien MacEnulty Aidan Mike Ana Partida. Inspiration. When initially researching a topic, stumbled across headline: Waldo Canyon Fire: 20 Percent of Soil So Severely Burned It Is Likened to ‘Moonscape’ www.huffingtonpost.com

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The Affect of Temperature on Soil Composition

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  1. The Affect of Temperature on Soil Composition Kellie Bowen LórienMacEnulty Aidan Mike Ana Partida

  2. Inspiration • When initially researching a topic, stumbled across headline: • Waldo Canyon Fire: 20 Percent of Soil So Severely Burned It Is Likened to ‘Moonscape’ • www.huffingtonpost.com • Looked further into topic. • To what extent can a fire’s temperature cause a “Moonscape” quality?

  3. Testable Question • c?

  4. Initial Research • Waldo Canyon Fire Facts • Time Frame: Sat. 23 June 2012 – 10 July 2012 • Burned: 18247 acres and 347 houses and 2 people died • Low burn: 7586 acres 41% • Moderate: 7286 acres 40% • High: 3375 acres 20%

  5. Biological Composition of Waldo Canyon Soil • Litter Layer: Recognizable plant litter • Duff Layer: Partially decomposed plant layer • Humus Layer: Extensive decayed and disintegrated organic materials, sometimes mixed with mineral soil • Decayed Wood: Consists of lignin ( complex organic polymer in the cell walls of plants that makes them rigid and woody) • Charcoal: Extensive charred wood and mineral soil • Upper Mineral Soil Horizon: Contains mineral soil

  6. OM (Organic Matter) During Combustion • Free moisture is vaporized at 100 degrees C • Lignin & hemicellulose degrade at 130-190 degrees C • Under 200 degrees C, reactions are endothermic • 280 degrees C, cellulose undergoes chemical dehydration • 35% of total weight loss occurs before OM reaches 280 degrees C • If soil temperatures exceed 280 degrees C, exothermic reactions occur most and OM is ignited • When surface temperature of 500-600 degrees occurs, then visual combustion is caused.

  7. Chemical Composition of Waldo Canyon Soil • Phosphorous (P) • Important component of the nucleic acid of plants, which regulates the plant’s ability to create proteins. Essential for the survival of vegetation. • Sulfur (S) • Its role in an ecosystem is not very well known, but it maintains a clear relationship with the fluctuations of nitrogen. • Nitrogen (N) • Important in the ecosystem because it is an element necessary for plants to survive.

  8. Nitrogen • Nitrogen is a component in amino acids, incorporated into proteins and is a base in nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA.In plants nitrogen is used in chlorophyll, which is essential for photosynthesis. • N2 is very abundant in the atmosphere but is relatively inert. Fixation is a when atmospheric N2 is converted into ammonium (NH4) which is more usable for plants. • Fixation happens through an enzyme called nitrogenase.

  9. Soil burn severity

  10. Hypothesis • If the temperature of the wildfire exceeds 300 degrees Fahrenheit, then less vegetation will be able to grow in the soil with composition similar to that of the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar area , because of the dramatic alteration in the chemical and biological composition as well as texture of the soil, including, but not limited to, the loss of important nutrients and the dispersal of a functioning ecosystem .

  11. Proposed Investigation • We propose an investigation of the effects of wildfire temperatures on the soil composition similar to that of Waldo Canyon, the location of which hosted the notorious Waldo Canyon Fire. To do this, we plan to take samples of soil from the areas affected by different temperatures in the Waldo Canyon fire burn scar, and any other more recent fire burn scars with similar to exact same soil composition, and attempt to grow the species of vegetation listed on the following slides.

  12. Proposed Vegetation • Plants of the Subalpine Ecosystem • Trees: • Subalpine Fir • Limber Pine • Engelmann Spruce • Shrubs: • Blueberry (Vaccinium) Elder • Cinquefoil Wood's Rose • Wax Current • Herbaceous Plants: • Arnica Needle Grass • Fairy Slipper • Colorado Blue Columbine • Gentian Sneezeweed • Lousewort Twinflower • Pipsissewa Sedge

  13. Proposed Vegetation • Plants of the Montane Ecosytem • Trees • Ponderosa Pine Douglas Fir • Quaking Aspen Lodgepole Pine • Shrubs • Antelope Bitterbrush Wax Current • Kinnikinnick Big Sage • Common Juniper Rocky Mountain Juniper • Holly Grape • Herbaceous Plants: • Mountain Ball Cactus Needle and Thread Grass • Daisy Locoweed • Geranium Whiskbroom Parsley • Blue GramaPasque Flower • GumweedPenstemon • June Grass Sedge • Mariposa Lily Spike Fescue • Miner's Candle Sulphur Flower • Dwarf Mistletoe Wallflower • Mountain Muhly Blue Columbine

  14. Proposed Vegetation • These species cover the subalpine zone of the Rocky Mountains, which range from 4400-7500 feet in elevation. The Waldo Canyon elevation ranges from 7100-8100 feet. We will take the soil from the specified burn areas with the same biological and chemical soil composition, then attempt to grow all of these species in the soil. After a set amount of time, we will take the quantity of vegetation that grew and use it as data for the experiment.

  15. Why Support This Investigation? • This Investigation should be funded because it will give us an idea in advance of what the vegetation will grow on burned soil after the fire (similar to that of the Waldo Canyon Fire). This allows those who work the land in subalpine areas to know in advance whether their land can be useful after the fire. The information gained will also aid restoration efforts. • Will save money for restoration efforts and those who own land destroyed by fire. • Will save time because we will know sooner which areas are too severely burned. • Will know what temperature to keep wildfire at so as to protect burned area. • Will know what will happen to certain soil compositions after wildfires in subalpine and montane areas.

  16. Works Cited • Glossary of Fire Science Technology, “Soil burn severity,” http://www.firewords.net/definitions/soil_burn_severity.htm • Huff Post Denver, Waldo Canyon Baer Soil Burn Severity Map, https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ftp/InciWeb/COPSF/2012-06-23-16:51-waldo-canyon-fire/related_files/ftp-20120716-204225.pdf,July 15, 2012. • National Park Service, “Subalpine Ecosystem,” http://www.nps.gov/romo/naturescience/subalpine_ecosystem.htm Rocky Mountain Field Institute, Inc. “Waldo Canyon Burn Scar,” http://www.rmfi.org/projects/waldo-canyon-burn-scar, 2014. • Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation, A. P. (2003, April 22). Soil Burn Severity Definitions and Mapping Guide Lines [Press release]. • web page [White paper]. (2000). Retrieved from Fire Words website: http://www.firewords.net/ definitions/soil_burn_severity.htm • "Nitrogen Cycle." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014. • "Nitrogen Fixation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 May 2014. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

  17. Photo Credits • Helicopter Photo • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helo_dropping_water_on_Waldo_Canyon_fire.jpg • Burn Scar Photo • http://www.rmfi.org/projects/waldo-canyon-burn-scar • Columbine Photo • http://www.daveshowalter.com/photo/colorado-blue-columbine/

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