1Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bangalore - 560 065, Karnataka, India
2Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry, Ponnampet - 571 216, Kodagu, Karnataka, India
*Corresponding author: Email: mmmurthy@rediffmail.com
Online published on 18 July, 2015.
A study on the effect of forest fire on soil chemical properties was conducted in Coorg district, Karnataka during the year 2010 - 2011, in five forest ranges of Rajiv Gandhi National Park (RGNP) using random sampling technique with a sampling intensity of 10 quadrats (10 m × 10 m) per range. Soil samples were collected from each quadrat at 0 - 15 cm depth and analysed for pH, exchangeable cations, organic matter, available phosphorus and potassium. The observations of the study indicated a reduction in organic matter content due to forest fire at all selected sites. Whereas the pH, organic matter content, available phosphorus and available potassium increased due to the effect of forest fire when compared to the control, which indicated the release of plant nutrients
Forest fire, soil nutrients, recruits, regeneration, RGNP
