Effect of forest fire on soil properties and natural regeneration in Chirpine (Pinus roxburghii) forests of Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Forest fires have a significant impact on the physical environment, such as land cover, land use, forest ecosystems, and biodiversity. The present study was carried out to quantify the effect of forest fire on soil properties and natural regeneration of Chirpine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) forests in Himachal Pradesh, India. Data collection was conducted at six different sites in three forest divisions, namely Solan Forest Division, Hamirpur Forest Division and Dehra Forest Division during the year 2020. Burnt and unburnt forests were selected at each site and were compared with each other to study the effect of fire. The results reported that electrical conductivity, pH, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium were higher in burnt forests when compared to unburnt forests of the studied sites whereas organic carbon (%) was lower in burnt forests as compared to unburnt forests. Seedling density of trees was found higher in burnt forests whereas sapling density was found higher in unburnt forests. This indicates that fire is good for regeneration but frequent fires can be detrimental for the survival of seedlings. Frequent forest fires need to be prevented and that can be done mainly by social awareness and developing strategies for use of pine needles in farming practices and commercial use in paper, pulp and wood industries.