Abstract

TALAMO, Andrés; BERMUDEZ, Ramiro; GARIBALDI, Lucas Alejandro  and  CHAVEZ, Ana. Erosión y escorrentía en respuesta a lluvias simuladas e incendios en bosques secos de montaña. Cienc. suelo [online]. 2016, vol.34, n.1, pp.105-111. ISSN 1850-2067.

Wildfires could enhance soil susceptibility to water erosion, affecting important environmental services, especially in mountain landscapes near urban centers. For this reason, we study runoff and soil erosion in response to occurrence of wildfires, intensity of simulated rain, slope and soil moisture, in a mountain landscape covered by subtropical dry forest, in the east of Salta city, NW Argentina. Runoff rate is increased with the intensity of simulated rain, slope and soil moisture, but not with the occurrence of wildfire. However, soil erosion increased strongly with the occurrence of wildfires, especially at greater intensities of simulated rain. Soil loss in burned sites was 21 times higher compared with unburned ones, under heavy simulated rain. Our results provide empirical evidence about soil erosion risks when high intensity rains occur in recently burned hillsides with low vegetation cover.

Keywords : Dry mountain forests; Hydrological processes; Rain intensities; wildfire.

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