Study of soil organic carbon transported by erosion post wildfire: case
of La Galite Archipelago
Abstract
The soil organic carbon stock (SOC) is an important element which plays
a principal role in climate change. Due to wildfire in forest
ecosystems, the changes in SOC stock are among the relevant research
issues. The accelerated erosion that occurs after loss organic matter is
a major factor affecting the sustainability of these environments. This
study aimed to assessment the water erosion on soil SOC stock after
wildfire on the island “La Galite Archipelago”. This assessment was
studied using the empirical erosion model RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil
Loss Equation). Data was collected on different sampling points of the
La Galite for measurements and calculations of carbon stocks. The
results showed that the SOC stock varied between 11 and 49 t/ha, the
erosion carbon map showed that after wildfire of La Galite Archipelago,
most of the areas affected by the fire belongs in the highest severity
class of susceptibility (> 50%) of organic carbon.