Ecological Archives E096-140-A2

Laure N. Soucémarianadin, Sylvie A. Quideau, Roderick E. Wasylishen, and Alison D. Munson. 2015. Early-season fires in boreal black spruce forests produce pyrogenic carbon with low intrinsic recalcitrance. Ecology 96:1575–1585. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/14-1196.1

Appendix B. Characteristics of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) from the six fire severity classes.

Table B1. Elemental properties of PyC samples produced by wildfires of the six severity classes observed in the field.

Fire severity class

Burning classa

Substrate classb

Substrate type

Moisture content (%)

Ash content (%)c

N content (%)d, e

C content (%)d, e

H content (%)d, e

O content (%)d

C/N ratio

Atomic H/C ratiod

Atomic O/C
ratiod

0

0

5

Sphagnum

9.7

4.4

1.26

(0.04)

47.6

(0.3)

5.30

(0.19)

45.8

37.7

1.34

0.72

0

0

5

Sphagnum

6.2

3.0

0.94

(0.08)

47.0

(1.9)

5.33

(0.34)

46.7

49.8

1.36

0.74

1

1

1

Lichen

6.7

3.0

0.69

(0.15)

46.1

(0.5)

5.75

(0.22)

47.5

67.2

1.50

0.77

1

1

1

Lichen

5.1

24.0

0.94

(0.09)

48.2

(1.4)

5.02

(0.39)

45.8

51.2

1.25

0.71

1

1

1

Lichen

5.6

2.3

0.92

(0.10)

49.8

(0.8)

5.62

(0.28)

43.7

54.0

1.36

0.66

1

1

1

Pleurozium

6.5

4.7

1.47

(0.05)

52.7

(2.4)

4.86

(0.11)

41.0

35.8

1.11

0.58

1

1

1

Pleurozium

6.6

3.7

1.32

(0.02)

51.8

(0.3)

5.26

(0.14)

41.6

39.1

1.22

0.60

1

1

1

Pleurozium

6.4

5.7

1.21

(0.02)

50.3

(0.8)

5.38

(0.13)

43.1

41.6

1.28

0.64

1

1

1

Pleurozium

6.1

12.5

1.28

(0.03)

52.4

(0.3)

5.13

(0.14)

41.2

40.8

1.17

0.59

1

1

1

Sphagnum

7.3

5.4

1.18

(0.05)

50.6

(0.3)

5.13

(0.15)

43.1

43.0

1.22

0.64

1

1

1

Sphagnum

6.7

4.8

1.36

(0.06)

51.1

(0.6)

5.39

(0.12)

42.2

37.5

1.26

0.62

1

1

1

Sphagnum

6.0

3.8

1.13

(0.12)

49.6

(1.4)

5.50

(0.19)

43.8

43.9

1.33

0.66

2

2

1

Lichen

6.3

4.0

1.19

(0.03)

47.9

(0.2)

6.06

(0.15)

44.9

40.3

1.52

0.70

2

2

1

Lichen

5.9

5.1

1.13

(0.07)

50.8

(0.2)

5.56

(0.04)

42.5

44.8

1.31

0.63

2

2

1

Lichen

6.5

2.9

1.08

(0.03)

49.2

(0.4)

5.86

(0.20)

43.9

45.5

1.43

0.67

2

2

1

Lichen

4.7

5.2

1.37

(0.04)

55.6

(0.5)

5.41

(0.06)

37.6

40.5

1.17

0.51

2

2

1

duff

6.1

7.4

1.55

(0.05)

55.9

(0.5)

4.94

(0.08)

37.6

36.0

1.06

0.50

2

2

1

duff

5.7

4.8

1.63

(0.09)

55.6

(1.0)

5.21

(0.04)

37.6

34.0

1.12

0.51

2

2

1

duff

5.6

6.2

1.13

(0.03)

52.7

(0.8)

5.20

(0.04)

41.0

46.8

1.18

0.58

2

2

1

Pleurozium

6.2

5.7

1.48

(0.08)

54.5

(1.8)

4.96

(0.16)

39.1

36.7

1.09

0.54

2

2

1

Pleurozium

5.8

2.9

1.41

(0.02)

53.9

(0.1)

5.24

(0.02)

39.5

38.1

1.17

0.55

2

2

1

Pleurozium

5.6

5.5

1.36

(0.10)

55.1

(2.7)

4.97

(0.10)

38.5

40.5

1.08

0.52

2

2

1

Pleurozium

5.4

5.0

1.62

(0.11)

52. 5

(2.0)

5.29

(0.22)

40.6

32.3

1.21

0.58

3

2

2

Pleurozium + Polytrichum

7.0

4.9

1.57

(0.03)

53.0

(0.1)

5.15

(0.10)

40.3

33.7

1.17

0.57

3

2

2

Polytrichum

6.9

7.8

2.07

(0.17)

54.0

(2.9)

4.72

(0.02)

39.2

26.1

1.05

0.55

4

3

1

duff

6.1

4.0

1.40

(0.04)

55.2

(0.3)

5.13

(0.04)

38.3

39.5

1.12

0.52

4

3

1

duff

5.6

4.9

1.50

(0.01)

56.2

(0.2)

4.97

(0.09)

37.3

37.4

1.06

0.50

4

3

1

duff

5.0

10.3

2.06

(0.01)

57.8

(0.3)

4.50

(0.13)

35.6

28.1

0.93

0.46

4

3

1

Pleurozium

6.4

5.1

1.60

(0.00)

54.2

(1.6)

5.06

(0.05)

39.2

33.9

1.12

0.54

4

3

1

Pleurozium

5.8

4.2

1.49

na

53.7

na

4.98

na

39.9

36.0

1.11

0.56

4

3

1

Pleurozium

5.8

16.1

1.52

(0.07)

51.4

(3.2)

4.62

(0.06)

42.5

33.9

1.08

0.62

4

3

1

Pleurozium

4.5

28.8

1.49

(0.02)

60.4

(9.5)

4.35

(0.07)

33.8

40.4

0.87

0.42

5

3

2

duff

4.2

34.0

1.63

(0.05)

58.7

(0.8)

4.02

(0.05)

35.6

35.9

0.82

0.45

a class 0 (unburnt/scorched): plant parts are green and unchanged, moss is yellow, but species are identifiable; class 1 (slightly burnt): moss and duff are scorched or charred but not altered over the entire duff depth, and the original form of mosses and twigs is visible; class 2 (moderately burnt): the organic layer is partially consumed, duff is charred or consumed, parts of woody twigs and roots remain; class 3 (severely burnt): forest floor material is deeply consumed, no discernible plant parts remain
b class 5: scorched forest floor; class 1: burnt forest floor; class 2: deeply burnt forest floor (residual forest floor < 2 cm)
c on a dry mass basis
d on a dry mass and ash-free basis
e values are averages with their associated standard deviations indicated in parentheses (n = 1–5); na: not available; nd: not determined.

[Back to E096-140]