School of Applied and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University Australia, Mount Helen Campus, VIC 3350, Australia.
School of Applied and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Federation University Australia, Mount Helen Campus, VIC 3350, Australia.
Chemosphere. 2018 Jan;190:144-153. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.09.117. Epub 2017 Sep 26.
Prescribed fire conducted in fire-prone areas is a cost-effective choice for forest management, but it also affects many of the physicochemical and bio-geological properties of the forest soil, in a similar manner to wild fires. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of the mercury mobilization after a prescribed fire and the subsequent temporal changes in concentration. A prescribed fire was conducted in a legacy mine site in Central Victoria, Australia, in late August 2015 and soil sample collection and analyses were carried out two days before and two days after the fire, followed by collection at the end of each season and after an intense rainfall event in September 2016. Results revealed the occurrence of mercury volatilization (8.3-97%) during the fire, and the mercury concentration displayed a significant difference (p < 0.05) before and immediately after the fire. Integrated assessment with number of pollution indices has shown that the study site is extremely contaminated with mercury during all the sampling events, and this poses a serious ecological risk due to the health impacts of mercury on human and ecosystems. In times of climate fluctuation with concomitant increase in forest fire (including prescribed fire), and subsequent precipitation and runoff, the potential for an increased amount of mercury being mobilized is of heighted significance. Therefore, it is recommended that prescribed fire should be cautiously considered as a forest management strategy in any mercury affected landscapes.
在易发生火灾的地区进行计划火烧是森林管理的一种具有成本效益的选择，但它也以类似于野火的方式影响森林土壤的许多物理化学和生物地质特性。本研究的目的是调查计划火烧后汞的迁移性质以及随后浓度的时间变化。2015 年 8 月下旬，在澳大利亚维多利亚州中部的一个遗留矿区进行了计划火烧，在火灾前两天和后两天、每个季节结束后以及 2016 年 9 月一场强降雨事件后进行了土壤采样和分析。结果表明，汞在火灾过程中发生了挥发（8.3-97%），汞浓度在火灾前后有显著差异（p<0.05）。采用污染指数综合评估表明，在所有采样事件中，研究地点的汞污染非常严重，由于汞对人类和生态系统的健康影响，这构成了严重的生态风险。在气候波动伴随森林火灾（包括计划火烧）增加以及随后的降水和径流量增加的情况下，更多的汞被迁移的可能性非常高。因此，建议在任何受汞影响的景观中，谨慎考虑将计划火烧作为森林管理策略。
