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Logging of Burned Pines and Rill Erosion in Mediterranean Drylands

Angeles Garcia Mayor, Researcher, University of Alicante, Departamento de Ecologia coneo 99, Alicante 03080, SPAIN, TEL: 01-(34)-627-68-93-43, FAX: 01-(34)-96-590-3625, EMAIL: amayor@tucson.ars.ag.gov

Susana Bautista, Fundación CEAM. C/Charles Darwin, 14. e-46980 Paterna. Spain

Teresa Gimeno, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidad de Alicante. Apdo. 99. E-03080 alicante, Spain

Abstract

We studied the consequences of post-fire logging on rill erosion in six burnt dryland forests in eastern Spain. We selected a range of environmental conditions in order to gain in representativeness for analyzing treatment effect. The experimental sites varied in dominant pine species Pinus halepensis and Pinus pinaster, bedrock and soil types, geomorphic conditions, and stand characteristics such as pine density. Within each site, we selected one representative slope and we measured the number and size of all the rills in the selected slope. Savage logging promoted large-scale deep-rill erosion in most of the study sites. The severity of the effects depended mainly on the slope length, density of logged pines and the type of substrate, with soils developed over sandstone showing the highest soil loss values by rill erosion, which ranged between 10.5 and 51.2 Mg ha-1 year-1 along the first three years after logging.