Effects of fire on physical, chemical and biological properties of soil in Arasbaran ‎forest in Kaleybar city

Fire has different effects on soil quality and its physical, chemical and biological properties. In order to investigate these effects, in this study, various physical, chemical and biological properties of soil in a part of Arasbaran forest located in Kalibar city that were affected by fire were studied. Soil samples were taken from burned areas (32 samples) and adjacent areas that were not affected by fire as blank samples (32 samples) by systematic random method from a depth of 0 to 15 cm and different soil properties were measured. The results showed that the values of pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, moisture content, basal respiration and soil microbial biomass in the blank samples were significantly higher than the values in burned samples; while the highest amounts of absorbable P and K and bulk density were observed in burned samples. There was no significant difference in the percentage of sand, silt, clay, porosity, PD and substrate Induced Respiration in the blank and burned samples. Based on PCA analysis, absorbable P and Microbial Biomass Carbon were significantly affected before and after fire, respectively. The results of this study showed that the chemical and biological properties of Arasbaran forest soils (except P and K) were more affected by fire than physical properties.