Spring prescribed burning can maintain soil carbon
Prescribed fire in the West Elk Mountains of the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest, Colorado, in 2022.
Prescribed burning is an important tool to decrease the severity of wildfires while promoting ecosystem services, like soil carbon (C) storage. While prescribed fires are increasingly being conducted in the spring--outside of historical fall fire regimes in the Western United States--it is not clear how burn season affects the processes that control soil carbon storage.
Researchers found that fall burning depleted soil carbon pools more than spring burning by combusting more organic matter and stimulating microbial respiration in the months after burning. These findings can inform when prescribed fires should take place in order to maintain soil carbon storage.