Original Research

Preliminary assessment of the impact of long-term fire treatments on in situ soil hydrology in the Kruger National Park

Edward S. Riddell, Ahmed Khan, Benjamin Mauck, Simphiwe Ngcobo, Jonathan Pasi, Andrew Pickles, Jennifer Pickles, Zinhle Sithole, Simon A. Lorentz, Navashni Govender
Koedoe | Vol 54, No 1 | a1070 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1070 | © 2012 Edward S. Riddell, Ahmed Khan, Benjamin Mauck, Simphiwe Ngcobo, Jonathan Pasi, Andrew Pickles, Jennifer Pickles, Zinhle Sithole, Simon A. Lorentz, Navashni Govender | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 23 December 2011 | Published: 27 July 2012

About the author(s)

Edward S. Riddell, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Ahmed Khan, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Benjamin Mauck, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Simphiwe Ngcobo, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Jonathan Pasi, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Andrew Pickles, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Jennifer Pickles, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Zinhle Sithole, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Simon A. Lorentz, School of Agriculture, Earth and Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, South Africa
Navashni Govender, Scientific Services, South African National Parks, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Abstract

There has been significant attention focused on the impacts of fire frequency and season of burn on ecological processes in the Kruger National Park (KNP). Whilst there has been some examination of these fire effects on soil properties, the explicit linkages of these effects to the hydrology of soils in burnt areas has remained a gap in our understanding. During August 2010, a field scoping campaign was undertaken to assess the impacts, if any, of long-term fire treatments on the hydrology of soils on the experimental burn plots (EBPs) in the KNP. Using various hydrometric and soil physical characterisation instruments soil, hydraulic conductivity and soil strength variations were determined across the extreme fire treatment on the EBPs, the annual August (high fire frequency) plots and the control (no burn) plots, on both the granite and basalt geologies of Pretoriuskop and Satara, respectively. It was found that there were soil hydrological and structural differences to fire treatments on the basalt burn plots, but that these were not as clear on the granite burn plots. In particular, hot, frequent fires appeared to reduce the variation in soil hydraulic conductivity on the annual burn plots on the basalts and led to reduced cohesive soil strength at the surface.

Conservation implications: The KNP burn plots are one of the longest running and well studied fire experiments on African savannahs. However, the impacts of fire management on hydrological processes in these water-limited ecosystems remains a gap in our understanding and needs to be considered within the context of climate and land-use changes in the savannah biome.


Keywords

experimental burn plots; fire; hydrology; Kruger National Park; soil

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Crossref Citations

1. The effect of experimental fires on soil hydrology and nutrients in an African savanna
Tercia Strydom, Eddie S. Riddell, Thomas Rowe, Navashni Govender, Simon A. Lorentz, Pieter A.L. le Roux, Corli Wigley-Coetsee
Geoderma  vol: 345  first page: 114  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.03.027