@article{fdi:010061882,
  title = {{C}ontribution of forest fire ash and plant litter decay on stream dissolved composition in a sub-humid tropical watershed ({M}ule {H}ole, {S}outhern {I}ndia)},
  author = {{A}udry, {S}. and {A}kerman, {A}. and {R}iotte, {J}ean and {O}liva, {P}. and {M}ar{\'e}chal, {JC}. and {F}raysse, {F}. and {P}okrovsky, {O}. {S}. and {B}raun, {J}ean-{J}acques},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}he current understanding of wildfire effects on water chemistry is limited by the quantification of the elemental dissolution rates from ash and element release rate from the plant litter, as well as quantification of the specific ash contribution to stream water chemistry. {T}he main objective of the study was to provide such knowledge through combination of experimental modelling, field data and end-member mixing analysis ({EMMA}) of wildfire impact on a watershed scale. {T}he study concerns watershed effects of fire in the {I}ndian subcontinent, a region that is typically not well represented in the fire science literature. {I}n plant litter ash, major elements are either hosted in readily-soluble phases ({K}, {M}g) such as salts, carbonates and oxides or in less-soluble carrier-phases ({S}i, {C}a) such as amorphous silica, quartz and calcite. {A}ccordingly, elemental release rates, inferred from ash leaching experiments in batch reactor, indicated that the element release into solution followed the order {K} > {M}g > {N}a > {S}i > {C}a. {E}xperiments on plant litter leaching in mixed-flow reactor indicated two dissolution regimes: rapid, over the week and slower over the month. {T}he mean dissolution rates at steady-state ({R}-ss) indicated that the release of major elements from plant litter followed the order {C}a > {S}i > {C}l > {M}g > {K} > {N}a. {R}-ss for {S}i and {C}a for tree leaves and herbaceous species are similar to those reported for boreal and {E}uropean tree species and are higher than that from the dissolution of soil clay minerals. {T}his identifies tropical plant litters as important source of {S}i and {C}a for tropical surface waters. {I}n the wildfire-impacted year 2004, the {EMMA} indicated that the streamflow composition ({C}a, {K}, {M}g, {N}a, {S}i, {C}l) was controlled by four main sources: rainwater, throughfall, ash leaching and soil solution. {T}he influence of the ash end-member was maximal early in the rainy season (the two first storm events) and decreased later in the rainy season, when the stream was dominated by the throughfall end-member. {T}he contribution of plant litter decay to the streamwater composition for a year not impacted by wildfire is significant with estimated solute fluxes originating from this decay greatly exceed, for most major elements, the annual elemental dissolved fluxes at the {M}ule {H}ole watershed outlet. {T}his highlighted the importance of solute retention and vegetation back uptake processes within the soil profile. {O}verall, the fire increased the mobility and export of major elements from the soils to the stream. {I}t also shifted the vegetation-related contribution to the elemental fluxes at the watershed outlet from long-term (seasonal) to short-term (daily to monthly).},
  keywords = {{W}ildfire ; {EMMA} ; {A}sh ; {L}itter ; {T}ropical watershed ; {E}lemental fluxes ; {INDE} ; {ZONE} {TROPICALE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{C}hemical {G}eology},
  volume = {372},
  numero = {},
  pages = {144--161},
  ISSN = {0009-2541},
  year = {2014},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.02.016},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061882},
}