Abstract

A study was carried out in semievergreen and moist deciduous forests, grassland, eucalypt and teak plantations in Kulamav area to evaluate the effect of fire on soil nutrient status. Sites were selected in the five forest ecosystems and in each site 20 x 20 m plots were laid out. Three surface samples were taken before and after burning. Soils were analysed for pH, organic carbon, total N, and available P and K. Analysis of variance of soil nutrients due to fire revealed that in moist deciduous, fire has produced significant effect on soil nutrient status while in semievergreen forest, grassland, eucalypt and teak plantations, fire impact was not significant. The study further manifested that among the properties studied, organic carbon and total N were highly affected by fire in the five ecosystems