Phosphorus and nitrogen exports from SE Australian forests following wildfire

Abstract

Following a wildfire in south-eastern Australia that burnt over 1 million hectares of forested land in early 2003, two former research catchments (136 and 244 ha), in the East Kiewa valley, Victoria, were re-instrumented. Discharge, suspended sediment, bedload and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were measured for 3 years post-fire. The nutrient data consisted of 15-min estimation of particulate P and total Kjeldahl N via a regression with turbidity, and dissolved forms of P and N estimated from over 1100 water samples. The regression-based estimation allowed rigorous estimation of errors, seldom reported in water quality data. The fire appears to have increased the total P and N exports by a..