Solid-state 13C NMR characterization of surface fire effects on the composition of organic matter in both soil and soil solution from a coniferous forest

- Effects of low-intensity ground fire on OM in soil solution and soil were examined.
- After the fire, properties of SOM differ from those of OM in soil solution.
- Dissolved and total organic matter fractions were differentially affected by fire.
- Fire triggers a lag in the chemical composition of topsoil solutions.

Wildfires change the chemical composition of soil organic matter (SOM). Since the effects of fires on organic matter (OM) in soil solution are largely unknown, we sought to compare the quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and total organic matter (TOM = DOM + particulate OM) between burned and control sites. The sites were subjected to a low-intensity surface fire in a coniferous forest in Germany dominated by spodic Cambisols derived from Triassic sandstone. Soil solutions from three different soil horizons (O, Ah, Bw), and throughfall (TF) were analyzed using solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, allowing us to track the initial fire impact on OM vertically through the soil profile and 70 days after the fire. In addition, organic layer samples were analyzed by 13C NMR spectroscopy to compare the OM quality. Under control conditions, properties of SOM influence the chemical composition of DOM and TOM in soil solutions. However, with fire, there is an initial increase in aromatic C in SOM, but not in DOM and TOM. Seventy days after the fire treatment, the aromatic C fraction in soil solutions of O and Ah layers increased, possibly due to accelerated oxidation processes, which would make the aromatic C more water-soluble. Our findings highlight the importance of short-term low-intensity fire-induced changes on forest soils that are useful to those seeking to better understand and model the temporal variability in the response of soil chemistry to fire to improve our knowledge of TOM and DOM dynamics in soils.