Summary

The aim of this project is to answer fundamental questions about the retention of geomorphologically- and biogeochemically-relevant radionuclide tracers in soils before and after prescribed fire.

In order to assess whether or not isotopes behave conservatively after intense heating, researchers are:

1. Collecting soil cores before pile burning occured in March 2024, across slope transects under chaparral and oak woodland vegetation communities;
2. Measuring concentrations of the radionuclides like ⁷Be, ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb, and meteoric ¹⁰Be within soil cores to establish ‘background’ rates of soil erosion at the preserve
3. Resampling soil in the exact same locations after the prescribed burns
4. Re-measuring radionuclide concentrations within burned soils samples.

Collecting samples prior to the prescribed burns presents a unique opportunity to establish robust estimates for ‘background’ rates of erosion by sampling across a sloped hill landscape in oak and chaparral vegetation within JRBP. These background rates may prove fruitful both for this current work (assessing radionuclide retention following fire), but also in case an unforeseen extreme event such as a high-severity wildfire, unprecedented storm, or another unexpected disturbance agent affects JRBP within the coming decades. If so, previous ‘background’ estimates will provide a helpful benchmark to subsequently assess how the JRBP landscape is affected by future disturbances or perturbations.

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Adrian Wackett prepares to sample soil from a slide hammer

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Adrian Wackett sampling soil cores with a slide hammer

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Burn piles sit downslope in chaparral habitat

Project Location (Sectors 42, 43)

Prof. Jane Willenbring's profile page