18- 



54. Rowe, J.S. and G.W. Scotter. 1973. Fire in the 

 boreal forest. Quaternary Res. 3:444-464. 



In boreal forests, fire provides a means of rapid 

 organic matter turnover where annual average 

 temperatures are too low to accomplish rapid 

 decomposition. Sphagnum bogs can develop in areas 

 of rising water tables following removal of trees 

 by fire. Where soils are shallow, they may be 

 destroyed by fires. Burning of surface humus 

 raises soil temperature in summer; many other 

 side-effects can occur in permafrost areas. 



55. Russell, J.D., A.R. Eraser, J.R. Watson, and J.W. 

 Parsons. 1974. Thermal decomposition of protein 

 in soil organic matter. Geoderma 11:63-66. 



Ammonia was evolved from protein structures in 

 soil clay-organic complexes heated in the lab to 

 100 C; 66% of the N in samples was released after 

 heating to 400 C. Most of the ammonia release 

 occurred from 300-400 C; higher than 400 C, half 

 the N was released as other volatile products. 

 The formation of ammonia at lower temperatures may 

 contribute to increased available N after burning 

 organic material. 



56. St. John, T.V. and P.W. Rundel. 1976. The role 



of fire as a mineralizing agent in a Sierran 

 coniferous forest. Oecologia 25:35-45. 



Soil C, total N, and C/N ratio were significantly 



lower after burning while ammonium, nitrate, 



water-soluble P, Ca, Mg , K, and pH were 

 significantly higher. 



57. Savage, S.M. 1974. Mechanism of fire-induced water 

 repellency in soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 

 38:652-657. 



Organic substances volatilized and moved into 

 underlying sand during burning of litter in the 

 laboratory, and condensed on cooler soil below. 

 The resulting area of water-repellency then 

 increased and was "fixed" with additional transfer 

 of heat into soil. 



58. Savage, S.M., J. P. Martin, and J. Letey. 1969. 



Contribution of some soil fungi to natural and 



heat-induced water repellency in sand. Soil Sci. 

 Soc. Am. Proc. 33:405-409. 



