Site characteristics: postfire soil hydrologic and biogeochemical response and recovery in northern California, USA

California’s wildfires are setting historic records for length, size, and severity (Safford and others, 2022, Kreider and others, 2024). These wildfires are altering soil processes like infiltration rates and carbon cycling over increasingly large areas (Staley and others, 2017; Kelly and others, 2020; Baur and others, 2024; Dow and others, 2024). In northern California, it is unclear how wildfire might increase runoff hazards or limit ecosystem recovery. To understand postfire soil response and recovery, we characterized the short and long-term effects of wildfire on soil infiltration and biogeochemical cycles using burned and nearby unburned sites. We seasonally conducted field measurements or collected soils for lab measurements to quantify soil hydrological and biogeochemical recovery for at least 3 years following the fire. Understanding the interaction between rocks, microbes, and water is key to identifying areas of elevated risk postfire and prioritizing postfire mitigation. Here is site information for the 61 soil monitoring and sampling sites across the 2019 Kincade Fire, 2020 LNU Lightning Complex, Walbridge, and Glass Fires, 2021 Dixie Fire, and 2022 McKinney Fire.

For more information on the site locations and associated hydrological and biogeochemical data, refer to the project landing page: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/680fa722d4be022940539f4d

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

References:
Baur, M.J., Friend, A.D., and Pellegrini, A.F.A., 2024, Widespread and systematic effects of fire on plant–soil water relations: Nature Geoscience, 17(11), 1115–1120. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01563-6.

Dow, H.W., East, A.E., Sankey, J.B., Warrick, J.A., Kostelnik, J., Lindsay, D.N., and Kean, J.W., 2024, Postfire Sediment Mobilization and Its Downstream Implications Across California, 1984–2021: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 129(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007725.

Kreider, M.R., Higuera, P.E., Parks, S.A., Rice, W.L., White, N., and Larson, A.J., 2024, Fire suppression makes wildfires more severe and accentuates impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation: Nature Communications,15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46702-0.

Kelly, L.T., Giljohann, K.M., Duane, A., Aquilué, N., Archibald, S., Batllori, E., Bennett, A.F., Buckland, S.T., Canelles, Q., Clarke, M.F., Fortin, M.-J., Hermoso, V., Herrando, S., Keane, R.E., and others, 2020, Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene: Science, 370(6519). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0355.

Nimmo, J.R., Schmidt, K.M., Perkins, K.S., & Stock, J.D., 2009, Rapid measurement of field- saturated hydraulic conductivity for areal characterization. Vadose Zone Journal, 8(1), 142-149. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2007.0159.
 
METER, 2021, Mini Disk Infiltrometer Manual. Pullman, WA: METER Group, Inc. USA. Accessed 27 June 2025: https://publications.metergroup.com/Manuals/20421_Mini_Disk_Manual_Web…

Safford, H.D., Paulson, A.K., Steel, Z.L., Young, D.J.N., and Wayman, R.B., 2022, The 2020 California fire season: A year like no other, a return to the past or a harbinger of the future? Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(10), 2005–2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13498.

Staley, D.M., Negri, J.A., Kean, J.W., Laber, J.L., Tillery, A.C., and Youberg, A.M., 2017, Prediction of spatially explicit rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for post-fire debris-flow generation in the western United States: Geomorphology, 278, 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.10.019.