Charcoal: a keystone substrate at the interface of soil-plant relations

在加拿大西部的大多数生态系统中，火是主要的自然干扰物，它推动生活在这些生态系统中的有机体进化适应。因此，有许多关于火灾后植物群落和微生物群落恢复的研究，这是由土壤环境调节的，并可能在人为干扰后的土地管理中发挥作用。木炭是火灾的主要残留物，已被证明可以刺激微生物过程和氮循环，从而对植物生长产生影响。它还代表了土壤碳(C)封存的潜力，因为木炭高度抵抗分解，可以在土壤中储存数千年。木炭对土壤过程和碳储存的影响使其成为土壤-植物关系界面上的“基石底物”。然而，直到最近，木炭一直被土壤科学和陆地生态学所忽视，随后木炭对地上和地下过程的影响也没有得到很好的了解。这项研究计划试图改变这一点，并对加拿大有许多好处，因为据估计，由于气候变化，未来火灾的频率和强度将会增加。监测从野火中恢复的生态系统并预测北部地区未来的火灾影响属于新制定的加拿大荒地火灾战略(CWFS-NRCAN)的目标。量化火灾后遗留并储存在土壤中的木炭数量将有助于更好地核算与气候变化有关的碳，这将有利于加拿大的国家森林碳监测、核算和报告系统(NFCMARS-CFS)。艾伯塔省油砂的快速经济增长最终将导致大规模的填海造地需求。目前的土地复垦研究项目没有将可供参考的火场作为基线条件，但这一研究计划将填补这一知识空白。了解从火灾中恢复的生态系统中关键的地上和地下过程将使工业合作伙伴能够制定更好的土地开垦处方。拟议的研究计划将检查土壤稳定木炭，这是一种在热源生态系统中发现的独特底物，可能会影响土壤-植物关系。

Fire is the dominant natural disturbance agent in most ecosystems of western Canada and it drives evolutionary adaptation in the organisms that live in these ecosystems. As such, there is much to learn about plant and microbial community recovery following fire, which are mediated by the soil environment, and may have roles in land management after human disturbance. Charcoal, the main residue of fire, has been shown to stimulate microbial processes and nitrogen cycling, thus having an effect on plant growth. It also represents the potential for soil carbon (C) sequestration, because charcoal is highly resistant to decomposition and can be stored in soil for thousands of years. The effect of charcoal on soil processes and C storage make it a "keystone substrate," at the interface of soil-plant relations. However, until recently charcoal has been overlooked by soil science and terrestrial ecology, and subsequently the above and below ground processes affected by charcoal are not well understood. This research program seeks to change that and has many benefits to Canada given that fire frequency and intensity are estimated to increase in the future due to climate change. Monitoring ecosystem recovery from wildfire and predicting future fire affects in the boreal falls within the objectives of the newly created Canadian Wildland Fire Strategy (CWFS-NRCAN). Quantifying the amount of charcoal left after fire and deposited in soil will allow for better C accounting as related to climate change, which will benefit Canada's National Forest C Monitoring, Accounting, and Reporting System (NFCMARS-CFS). Rapid economic growth in the oil sands of Alberta will eventually lead to large land reclamation requirements. Current land reclamation research projects do not include fire sites for reference as a baseline condition, but this research program will fill this knowledge gap. Understanding the key above and below-ground processes in ecosystems recovering from fire will enable industrial partners to build better land reclamation prescriptions. The proposed research program will examine soil stabilized charcoal, a unique substrate found in pyrogenic ecosystems with the potential to affect soil-plant relations.