Effects of Wildfires and Ash Leaching on Stream Chemistry in the Santa Ynez Mountains of Southern California

Abstract

Wildfires can change ecosystems by altering solutes in streams. We examined major cations in streams draining a chaparral-dominated watershed in the Santa Ynez Mountains (California, USA) following a wildfire that burned 75 km² from July 8 to October 5, 2017. We identified changes in solute concentrations, and postulated a relation between these changes and ash leached by rainwater following the wildfire. Collectively, K⁺ leached from ash samples exceeded that of all other major cations combined. After the wildfire, the concentrations of all major cations increased in stream water sampled near the fire perimeter following the first storm of the season: K⁺ increased 12-fold, Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ increased 1.4-fold, and Mg²⁺ increased 1.6-fold. Our results suggested that the 12-fold increase in K⁺ in stream water resulted from K⁺ leached from ash in the fire scar. Both C and N were measured in the ash samples. The low N content of the ash indicated either high volatilization of N relative to C occurred, or burned material contained less N.

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