Understanding the impact of severe wildfires on moorland carbon dynamics

2011年春天，英国各地爆发了前所未有的大规模野火。这些火灾与长时间异常温暖和干燥的天气有关，导致易燃的植被、干燥的泥炭土和严重生态影响的可能性。野火会对生态系统功能造成重大损害，特别是在严重程度高的地区，那里的地面苔藓层和泥炭层被广泛加热或点燃。泥炭层中的阴燃燃烧释放出大量的化石碳，对英国的总排放量产生深远的影响。烟熏和大范围的土壤加热也破坏了地下植物结构和土壤种子库，导致植物和野生生物多样性格局的根本变化，高沼地生境的丧失，以及植被燃烧所损失的碳与再生所能吸收的碳之间的潜在不平衡。严重的火灾还与一系列其他环境影响有关，如土壤侵蚀加剧。尽管这种影响会造成严重的环境后果，但几乎所有关于高沼地野火影响的科学知识都来自大约35年前的一次事件。人们越来越关注气候、火灾频率、火灾严重程度和泥炭地碳通量之间的潜在反馈。因此，迫切需要确保我们制定关于高沼地生物多样性和碳储存的可持续管理做法。这项研究将在开始填补野火对英国高沼地影响的基本知识空白方面发挥重要作用。我们将访问和评估最近严重的野火在英国各地的直接影响，并收集数据，以允许不同的烧伤严重程度对地上和地下的碳平衡和高沼地的生态系统功能的影响进行初步比较。我们将绘制最近野火的周边和火灾严重程度的广泛类别的分布。在不同严重程度的地区，我们将估计由于燃烧而从系统中损失的碳总量，并评估燃烧和未燃烧地块中泥炭的植被再生和碳通量的差异。通过建立一个永久性地块网络，该项目还将创造一个宝贵的科学资源，使我们能够跟踪生态系统随时间的变化，并为未来的研究提供一个重点。

The spring of 2011 saw an unprecedented number of large wildfires break out across the length and breadth of the UK. These fires were associated with a prolonged period of unusually warm and dry weather that led to flammable vegetation, dry peat soils and the potential for severe ecological impacts. Wildfires can cause significant damage to ecosystem function, particularly in areas of high severity where ground-level layers of moss and peat deposits are extensively heated or ignited. Smouldering combustion in layers of peat releases significant amounts of fossil carbon and can have a profound effect on total UK emmissions. Smoulering and extensive soil heating also destroys belowground plant structures and soil seedbanks leading to fundamental changes in patterns of plant and wildlife biodiversity, the loss of moorland habitats and a potential imbalance between the carbon lost from burnt vegetation and that which can be sequesterd by regeneration. Severe fires are also associated with a range of other environmental impacts such as increased soil erosion. Despite the serious environmental consequences of such impacts, almost all of the scientific knowledge of the impacts of moorland wildfires comes from a single event some 35 years ago. There is increasing concern about potential feedbacks between climate, fire frequency, fire severity and carbon fluxes from peatlands. For this reason there is an urgent need to ensure we develop sustainable management practices with regards to moorland biodiversity and carbon stores. This research will play an important role in beginning to fill this fundamental knowledge gap on the impacts of wildfires on UK moorlands. We will visit and assess the immediate impact of recent severe wildfires across the UK, and collect data to allow an initial comparison to be made of the effects of varying burn severities on the above and below ground carbon balance and ecosystem functioning of moorlands. We will map the perimeter of recent wildfires and the distribution of broad classes of fire severity. In areas of differing severity we will make estimates of the total amount of carbon lost from the system due to combustion and assess differences in vegetation regeneration and carbon fluxes from peat in burnt and unburnt plots. By establishing a network of permanent plots, the project will also create a valuable scientific resource that will allow us to track ecosystem change over time and provide a focus for future research.