Effects of prescribed fire on soil permeability of a neotropical savanna
fire – prescribed fires – hydrophobicity - infiltration capacity – soil water resistance
The Brazilian neotropical savannah, known regionally as Cerrado, is a highly fire-dependent ecosystem. However, this ecosystem has been suffering from intense and severe forest fires in recent decades that have contributed to its current state of degradation. Reconciling fire in this ecosystem with the reduction of its degradation, which in part is caused by the misuse of fire itself, becomes a challenge. Prescribed fires can become a powerful tool in the search for this conciliation of ecosystem conservation. In order to understand the behavior of prescribed fires, analyzing the hydrological effects that can be caused in the soil will allow us to understand the fire x soil relationship in neotropical savanna ecosystems. Infiltration capacity, hydrophobicity and soil penetration resistance are essential characteristics of the hydrological effects that can be caused by burning to the soil.