Unravelling the Diverse Effects of Fire on Soil Processes

Dear Colleagues,

We are soliciting contributions to a Special Issue in the journal Fire which will incorporate topics related to fire effects on ecosystems through a belowground lens focused on the responses of soils. Some of the largest uncertainties in how changing fire regimes will affect ecosystems arise from the variable responses in soil, which span a diversity of processes. Such topics may include: the response of decomposer communities, such as the dominant taxa sensitive to fire, the timescale of community turnover, what factors determine community recovery, and how changes in microbes influence biogeochemical cycling. Along these lines, the effect of fire on soil organic matter is highly variable and controlled by several processes such as the physicochemical properties of soil minerals and organic matter. Additionally, fire can lead to changes in soil water retention and cycling, as burning shifts pore structure, wax formation, soil compaction, and evapotranspiration. Changes belowground have important implications for aboveground processes, such as nutrient availability affecting the composition of plant strategies and plant productivity. The responses of plants can have cascading effects on animal populations, as palatability and biomass production changes. Consequently, understanding the mechanisms leading to the widespread variability in fire effects on soil properties and processes has broad implications for ecosystem functioning.

Dr. Adam Pellegrini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.