The ash-bed effect in Eucalyptus regnans forest:Chemical, physical and microbiological changes in soil after heating or partial sterilisation

Abstract

The ash-bed effect (the enhanced growth of plants on soil which has been heated) following fire in Eucalyptus regnans forest is dramatic. The results are presented of studies of the effects of a range of heating and partial sterilization treatments on chemical, microbiological and physical properties in soil from a 250-year-old E. regnans forest in Victoria. Soil treatments not involving heat (chemical sterilization, γ -irradiation and air-drying) and the lower temperature heat treatments (100 and 200°C) had no marked effects on physical characteristics. All treatments produced more or less similar effects on microbial populations. On the other hand, heating the soil to 400-600°C produced la..