Biological Activity of Soils in Mountain Tundra Ecosystems under Postpyrogenic Restoration

Abstract

The dynamics of the content and microbiological transformation of carbon and nitrogen compounds in the surface horizons of mountain tundra soils are considered in the postpyrogenic succession. The contents of total and labile carbon and nitrogen increase in the course of postpyrogenic soil evolution. At the same time, in the surface organic horizons, the carbon reserves, as compared to the nitrogen ones, are restored faster. The aerobic transformation of carbon compounds prevails at all the stages of the succession. The tolerance of soil organic matter toward mineralization increases as the ecosystem recovers after fire. However, this parameter reaches the values characteristic of the control soils no earlier than 60 years after the fire. The microbial communities of the podburs (Folic Podzols, Haplic Podzols) restore their functional activity fast enough after the fire (about three years). In the remote future, the effect of fire leads to an increase in the availability of soil nitrogen and in the soil ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Despite the temporary increase in the availability of mineral nitrogen (including nitrates) at early stages of the postpyrogenic restoration of soil systems, denitrification does not play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen.