Post-Fire Management Effects on Soil Metal Dynamics in Mediterranean Forests

Yener Ulus^1,2*Shaoyi Wang^3,4Martin Tsz-Ki Tsui^3,5,6Noah Landau²Owen Lekki²Tuğba BAYAZIT⁷Habibullah Uzun⁸Fevziye Aslan⁹Ali Kavgacı¹⁰

• ¹Biology and Environmental Science Department, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, United States
• ²Environmental Studies Department, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, United States
• ³School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hon Kong SAR, China
• ⁴City University of Hon Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
• ⁵Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hon Kong SAR, China
• ⁶State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Health, City University of Hon Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
• ⁷Central Research Laboratory, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Türkiye
• ⁸Department of Environmental Engineering, Istanbul Teknik Universitesi, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ⁹General Directorate of Forestry, Ankara, Türkiye
• ¹⁰Vocational School of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy Universitesi, Burdur, Türkiye

Wildfires are an integral component of Mediterranean ecosystems. The forest management practices implemented following such forest fires can significantly influence soil chemistry and metal dynamics.This study investigates the effects of different forest management strategies, including natural regeneration, grading (e.g., gradoni terrace making), and subsoiling with ripper on soil levels of major, trace, and heavy metals in a fire-affected forest in the southwestern part of Türkiye. Soil samples were collected 2.5 years after the containment of the wildfire and analyzed for selected metals (Fe, Ca, Al, Mn, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb, Co, As, and Hg) concentrations. The findings indicated that subsoiling with a ripper resulted in elevated levels of multiple potentially toxic metals, including Cr (223.22 ± 60.47 mg/kg), Ni (150.54 ± 27.33 mg/kg), Zn (156.18 ± 66.14 mg/kg), and As (6.72 ± 1.30 mg/kg), compared to other treatments. These findings demonstrate that management interventions such as subsoiling with a ripper can significantly alter the distribution and concentration of trace metals. Future research integrating topographic variation and earlier sampling would further strengthen our understanding of post-fire metal dynamics.