Experimental warming and fire alter fluxes of soil nutrients in sub-alpine open heathland

Abstract

Climatic changes in the Australian Alps are likely to raise mean ambient temperatures, decrease precipitation and increase the frequency of fires, which together are likely to affect soil nutrients. Changes in the availability of soil nutrients are in turn expected to influence plant growth and community composition. In alpine soils of the southern hemisphere, it is unknown how the interaction between warming and fire will affect nutrient availability and to what extent changes will resemble global trends. We used open-top chambers and ion-exchange membranes to examine the effects of warming and fire on the cumulative flux of available nutrients and toxic elements in soil of a sub-alpine hea..