Investigation of Natural Resilience Capacity of Soil Features after Low Severity Ground Wildfire in Pinus brutia Forest Ecosystem, Mediterranean Region

Wildfires are one of the succession dynamics in the ecosystem, however forest ecosystems have natural resilience capacity to combat with natural disturbance regimes depend on local ecologic properties. This study was conducted to evaluate natural resilience capacity status of the soil’s physical, chemical and hydrological features exposed to low severity ground wildfire after three years in the Bulutoglu village, Kahramanmaras. Particle size distribution, soil reaction (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter content (OM), dispersion ratio (DR), moisture content (MC), field capacity (FC), colloid/moisture equivalent (CM), particle density (PD), bulk density (BD) and porosity ratio (PR) analysis were performed on two groups of soils (burned and unburned counterpart). The environmental sensitivity index (ESI) include soil, vegetation, climate, and management quality of the study area was determined by MEDALUS methodology. According to the results, there is no environmental sensitivity in the study area. It was determined that the negative effects of soil properties improved significantly after three years from the wildfire except for the PR and BD values. There was no statistically significant difference between the analyzed two soil samples groups. It was concluded that the difference between the bulk density and porosity ratios is not only due to the effects of the fire but also with grazing pressure, especially on the unburned area. According to the results, the  burned area suffered from low severity ground wildfire has substantially been naturally rehabilitated itself within th ree years. Environmentally sensitivity (ESI) of the study area was a play an important role in the recovery of soil features. Additionally recommended avoiding some activities that will compress the soil for increasing natural resilience capacity after a wildfire.