Article (Scientific journals)
Size fractionation as a tool for separating charcoal of different fuel source and recalcitrance in the wildfire ash layer
Mastrolonardo, Giovanni
2017In Science of the Total Environment, 595, p. 461-471
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Keywords :
forest fire; pyrogenic organic carbon; biochar; black carbon; thermal recalcitrance index; charcoal reflectance
Abstract :
[en] Charcoal is a heterogeneous material exhibiting a diverse range of properties. This variability represents a serious challenge in studies that use the properties of natural charcoal for reconstructing wildfires history in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that particle size is a sufficiently robust indicator for separating forest wildfire combustion products into fractions with distinct properties. For this purpose, we examined two different forest environments affected by contrasting wildfires in terms of severity: an eucalypt forest in Australia, which experienced an extremely severe wildfire, and a Mediterranean pine forest in Italy, which burned to moderate severity. We fractionated the ash/charcoal layers collected on the ground into four size fractions (>2, 2–1, 1–0.5, <0.5 mm) and analysed them for mineral ash content, elemental composition, chemical structure (by IR spectroscopy), fuel source and charcoal reflectance (by reflected-light microscopy), and chemical/thermal recalcitrance (by chemical and thermal oxidation). At both sites, the finest fraction (<0.5 mm) had, by far, the greatest mass. The C concentration and C/N ratio decreased with decreasing size fraction, while pH and the mineral ash content followed the opposite trend. The coarser fractions showed higher contribution of amorphous carbon and stronger recalcitrance. We also observed that certain fuel types were preferentially represented by particular size fractions. We conclude that the differences between ash/charcoal size fractions were most likely primarily imposed by fuel source and secondarily by burning conditions. Size fractionation can therefore serve as a valuable tool to characterise the forest wildfire combustion products, as each fraction displays a narrower range of properties than the whole sample. We propose the mineral ash content of the fractions as criterion for selecting the appropriate number of fractions to analyse.
Disciplines :
Life sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Mastrolonardo, Giovanni ;  Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Echanges Eau-Sol-Plantes
Language :
English
Title :
Size fractionation as a tool for separating charcoal of different fuel source and recalcitrance in the wildfire ash layer
Publication date :
April 2017
Journal title :
Science of the Total Environment
ISSN :
0048-9697
eISSN :
1879-1026
Publisher :
Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Volume :
595
Pages :
461-471
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Available on ORBi :
since 08 May 2017

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