Soil respiration and controls in warmer winter: A snow manipulation study in postfire and undisturbed black pine forests

Abstract

Climate change impacts drive warmer winters, reduced snowfall, and forest fires. In 2020, a wildfire scorched about 1508 hectares of black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) forests in Türkiye. Whether the combined effects of lack of snow and forest fires significantly alter winter soil respiration (Rs) and soil temperature remains poorly understood. A field experiment was conducted in the postfire and undisturbed black pine forests during the winter to quantify Rs rates as affected by lack of snow and forest fire. We applied four treatments: snow-exclusion postfire (SEPF), snow postfire (SPF), snow-exclusion-undisturbed forest (SEUF), and snow undisturbed forest (SUF). The SEPF exhibited the significantly lowest mean Rs rates (0.71 μmol m−2 s−1) compared to the SPF (1.02 μmol m−2 s−1), SEUF (1.44 μmol m−2 s−1), and SUF (1.48 μmol m−2 s−1). The Rs also showed significant variations with time (p