Investigation of the fire effects on some physico-chemical characteristics of soil (case study: Miankal eh range land, Iran)

摘要

Fire is one of the ecological factors that can have positive and negative effects on ecosystem processes. Nevertheless, prescribed burning is considered to be an i mportant tool for grassland management, particularly to manipulate the bal-ance between grasses and shrubs (Scheintaub el al. 2009).In Iran, for example, Khodagholi et al. (2001) in the Sa-mirom rangelands of Isfahan Province suggest that fire reduces the shrubs cover and production and leads to the expansion of grasses. Sharifi and Imani (2006) showed that in the semi-steppe of Khalkhal Province shrub cover de-creased in contrast to permanent grasses after fire was applied. However, others report that fire can reduceproduc-tion and plant diversity due to affects on the range soil properties.This research investigated the effects of fire on some soil physico-chemical characteristics in the Miankaleh rangeland in northern Iran.