Soil Organic Matter In Forest Soils Subjected to Prescribed Burning and Thinning Treatments.

Biomass burning during forest management practices is suggested to produce structurally modified organic carbon compounds. However, little information is available on structural changes in soil organic matter fractions in such systems. Objective of this study is to investigate the heat-induced chemical changes in soil organic matter fractions utilizing an operationally defined soil organic matter fractionation scheme. Organic matter was fractionated based on an alkaline extraction method. Soil for this study was obtained from the Bankhead National Forest, Alabama, a Southern Appalachian pine forest ecosystem subjected to prescribed logging and burning treatments. Changes in soil organic matter fractions, including humic acid, fulvic acid, and humin were investigated.