On September, 4 2011 the most destructive fire in the history of Texas hit the Bastrop County Park. Two people were killed by the fire while it destroyed 1,673 houses. The fire left $325 million in property damages. You can see many physical differences from before and after the fire. However, the chemical changes are much harder to see. Fires cause many chemical changes to soil but there hasn’t been much study over this subject and even less study done on specific chemical compounds effected by fires. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential nutrient elements obtained in soil. This research will compare how these nutrients have been effected by the Bastrop fire. The first nutrient that was studied on is phosphate. There will be a comparison of the phosphate concentration between different burn severities and horizons. With these and furthermore results, we can better understand the affect that the fire has on the nutrients and how it currently and will affect the nutrients’ cycles.<br/><br/>

Did the Bastrop wildfire affect the phosphorus quantity in the soil?

249th National Meeting (2015)

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