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Final Article

Fire ecology, Restructuring of the Abiotic responses component:

Fires can affect soils through its heating and combustion processes. Depending on the temperatures of the soils caused by the combustion processes, different effects will happen- from evaporation of water at the lower temperature ranges, to the combustion of soil organic matter and formation of pyrogenic organic matter, otherwise known as charcoal[1].

Fires can cause changes in soil nutrients through a variety of mechanisms, which include oxidation, volatilization, erosion, and leaching by water, but the event must usually be of high temperatures in order of significant loss of nutrients to occur. However, quantity of nutrients available in soils are usually increased due to the ash that is generated, and this is made quickly available, as opposed to the slow release of nutrients by decomposition[2].

Increase in the pH of the soil following a fire is commonly observed, most likely due to the formation of calcium carbonate, and the subsequent decomposition of this calcium carbonate to calcium oxide when temperatures get even higher[1]. It could also be due to the increased cation content in the soil due to the ash, which temporarily increases soil pH[2]. Microbial activity in the soil might also increase due to the heating of soil and increased nutrient content in the soil, though studies have also found complete loss of microbes on the top layer of soil after a fire[2][3].

Removal of vegetation following a fire can cause several effects on the soil, such as increasing the temperatures of the soil during the day due to increased solar radiation on the soil surface, and greater cooling due to loss of radiative heat at night. Fewer leaves to intercept rain will also cause more rain to reach the soil surface, and with fewer plants to absorb the water, the amount of water content in the soils might increase. However, it might be seen that ash can be water repellent when dry, and therefore water content and availability might not actually increase[4].  

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Just did some minor edits as I had meant for the draft to be close to the final submission quality. Some of the content was retained from the Wikipedia article, and there were no citations on the main article, therefore it remains the same.

Peer Review: I think your draft is good! It needs some copy editing. Also i think that mentioning that something is debatable is somewhat dangerous and needs to be explained in depth ( the whole third paragraph seems a little uncertain).

Article draft

Restructuring of the Abiotic responses component: 

Fires can affect soils through its heating and combustion processes. Depending on the temperatures of the soils caused by the combustion processes, different effects will happen- from evaporation of water at the lower temperature ranges, to the combustion of soil organic matter and formation of pyrogenic organic matter, otherwise known as charcoal (hyperlink)[1].

Fires can cause changes in soil nutrients through a variety of mechanisms, which include oxidation, volatilization, erosion, and leaching by water, but the event must usually be of high temperatures in order of significant loss of nutrients to occur. However, quantity of nutrients available in soils are usually increased due to the ash that is generated, and this is made quickly available, as opposed to the slow release of nutrients by decomposition[2].

Increase in the pH of the soil following a fire is commonly observed, most likely due to the formation of calcium carbonate, and the subsequent decomposition of this calcium carbonate to calcium oxide at even higher temperatures[1]. It could also be due to the increased cation content in the soil due to the ash, which temporarily increases soil pH[2]. Microbial activity in the soil might also increase due to the heating of soil and increased nutrient content in the soil, though this is debatable as studies have found complete loss of microbes on the top layer of soil after a fire[2][3]. Loss of nutrients might only occur when the temperatures of the soil are extremely high. 

Removal of vegetation following a fire can cause several effects on the soil, such as increasing the temperatures of the soil during the day due to increased solar radiation on the soil surface, and greater cooling due to loss of radiative heat at night. Fewer leaves to intercept rain will also cause more rain to reach the soil surface, and with fewer plants to absorb the water, the amount of water content in the soils might increase. However, it might be seen that ash can be water repellent when dry, and therefore water content and availability might not actually increase[4].  

  1. ^ a b Santín, Cristina; Doerr, Stefan H. (2016-06-05). "Fire effects on soils: the human dimension". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 371 (1696): 20150171. doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0171. ISSN 0962-8436. PMID 27216528.
  2. ^ a b c Pivello, Vânia Regina; Oliveras, Imma; Miranda, Heloísa Sinátora; Haridasan, Mundayatan; Sato, Margarete Naomi; Meirelles, Sérgio Tadeu. "Effect of fires on soil nutrient availability in an open savanna in Central Brazil". Plant and Soil. 337 (1–2): 111–123. doi:10.1007/s11104-010-0508-x.
  3. ^ Mataix-Solera, J.; Cerdà, A.; Arcenegui, V.; Jordán, A.; Zavala, L.M. "Fire effects on soil aggregation: A review". Earth-Science Reviews. 109 (1–2): 44–60. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.08.002.
  4. ^ Robichaud, Peter R.; Wagenbrenner, Joseph W.; Pierson, Fredrick B.; Spaeth, Kenneth E.; Ashmun, Louise E.; Moffet, Corey A. "Infiltration and interrill erosion rates after a wildfire in western Montana, USA". CATENA. 142: 77–88. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2016.01.027.

Note: References 5-9 were used previously and not in this edit. They are there to serve as reference for future usage as the article is expanded.

Possible extensions for Abiotic responses:

Bring out the possibility of nutrients being removed by large scale events such as erosions and increase surface run-offs, which might lead to flooding.

“Nutrient content that has become available in the form of ash might therefore be carried away from events like flows of water or erosions, therefore depleting some of the nutrient content released by the fires.” – a possible addition to the article as well. 

Possible extensions for Biotic responses and adaptations:

I will expand the portion on animals birds and microbes, possibly giving them an individual section each.

Addition to the talk page of Fire ecology (Talk:Wildfire suppression)

I feel that the effects of ash on the nutrient content and its effects on the water content (through water retention and how it affects the porosity and hydraulic conductivity of the soils) can be added to this discussion [1][2][3]

"Addition of ash to the soils also increases nutrient contents [2]"

"Immediately following a fire however, ash can wash or permeate into the soil, clogging the soil pores, leading to decreased infiltration rates by reducing the hydraulic conductivity, thereby contributing to increased water retention in soils as well [4][5]"

Possible sources:

Effect of fire and ash on soil water retention [1]

Physical Properties of Fly Ash-Amended Soils [2]

Physical and chemical properties of wood ash [2]

The effect of fire-induced surface heterogeneity on rainfall-runoff-erosion relationships in an eastern Mediterranean ecosystem, Israel[4]

The effect of ash on runoff and erosion after a severe forest wildfire, Montana, USA [5]

  1. ^ a b Stoof, Cathelijne R.; Wesseling, Jan G.; Ritsema, Coen J. "Effects of fire and ash on soil water retention". Geoderma. 159 (3–4): 276–285. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2010.08.002.
  2. ^ a b c d Chang, A. C.; Lund, L. J.; Page, A. L.; Warneke, J. E. (1977-07-09). "Physical Properties of Fly Ash-Amended Soils1". Journal of Environment Quality. 6 (3). doi:10.2134/jeq1977.00472425000600030007x. ISSN 0047-2425.
  3. ^ Etiégni, L.; Campbell, A.G. "Physical and chemical characteristics of wood ash". Bioresource Technology. 37 (2): 173–178. doi:10.1016/0960-8524(91)90207-z.
  4. ^ a b Kutiel, P.; Lavee, H.; Segev, M.; Benyamini, Y. "The effect of fire-induced surface heterogeneity on rainfall-runoff-erosion relationships in an eastern Mediterranean ecosystem, Israel". CATENA. 25 (1–4): 77–87. doi:10.1016/0341-8162(94)00043-e.
  5. ^ a b Woods, Scott W.; Balfour, Victoria N. (2008). "The effect of ash on runoff and erosion after a severe forest wildfire, Montana, USA". International Journal of Wildland Fire. 17 (5): 535–548. doi:10.1071/wf07040.

Topic for Paper

I have decided to that Fire Ecology might be the topic that I would like to work in instead. I plan to expand the parts on Abiotic Ecology, as I feel that fires have a lot of impacts on the soil material that are not covered in the section, such as whether there is an objective loss of nutrients in the soil following a fire, and how fires cause it to happen. I would also like to make the portion on the water availability, retention and porosity of the soils following a fire, as it is rather scattered right now. I would mention how ash can increase water retention and decrease hydraulic conductivity, leading to more water being available in the soil, but would also caution on that as ash might cause a hydrophobic film above the soil surface.

I would also like to expand the section on Biotic Responses and Adaptations. Current possible interests would especially be to expand the Animals, birds and microbes section to give it more depth and better separation of the information instead of just one block of words.

Possible topics for Paper

Fire ecology

Wildfire suppression

Article Evaluation

Wildfire suppression (Wiki Link: Wildfire suppression) (Wiki Talk: Talk:Wildfire suppression)

Instead of having the blanket term of "History" while only subsequently listing the histories of wildfires in three countries, there should be quantifiers to state that it is not comprehensive- there are wildfires in other regions and countries of the world, not just limited to the North America and Australia. For example, fires in Indonesia and Philippines are common, with the number of hot spots in Indonesia in July 2017 ranging from 173 to 239, and causing $16.1 billion of economic loss to the Indonesia economy in 2015 [1][2]. We can change it to "Fire Suppression in the United States" but that would prevent us from adding the pertinent information about Australia's or Canada's fire suppression efforts.

A better alternative would be to add in the data from other parts of the world as well, but given that it might be a daunting task to make it comprehensive, the article should at least acknowledge that there are fires at other parts of the world, but subsequently only focus on those that are available. Present data just makes for a Eurocentric viewpoint, showing a overrepresentation of America.

Some of the citations do not work as readers do not have access to the scientific journals, like citation 23, while others do not exist at all, like citation 24, which cites page 144 of the book which does not exist at all, and citations 15 and 16, whose websites do not exist anymore. A lot of these information are dated, and go back to 2007-2008. In the decade that has passed, some of these fire fighting techniques and strategies might have evolved, and therefore renewal of this site should be looked into.

  1. S. Ismail. (2017, July). Number of hotspots growing in Indonesia: Government agency. Link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/number-of-hotspots-growing-in-indonesia-government-agency-9077144
  2. J. S. Clarke. (2017, August). Forest fires rage across Indonesia as dry season begins . Link: https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2017/08/03/indonesia-forest-fires-begin/  
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