Post-fire assessment of soil physicochemical properties in Tamgout Forest, Northern Algeria

doi:10.3832/ifor4956-019

Post-fire assessment of soil physicochemical properties in Tamgout Forest, Northern Algeria

Karima Sebki⁽¹⁾ , Zine Eddine Chekired⁽²⁾, Brahim Mehdi⁽³⁾, Ayoub Allam⁽⁴⁾, Ouahid Zanndouche⁽²⁾, Boussad Metna⁽¹⁾, Rachid Meddour⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 19, Issue 6, Pages 403-410 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor4956-019
Published: Nov 09, 2026 - Copyright © 2026 SISEF

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Understanding how fires affect forest ecosystem components is crucial for predicting vegetation recovery and guiding forest management. Yet information on wildfire consequences for soil properties remains limited in Algeria. This study investigated the impact of wildfire on the physicochemical and structural properties of forest soil in the Tamgout area, northern Algeria. Soil samples were collected along a post-fire chronosequence (2, 10, and 18 years) and compared to an unburned soil (control). ANOVA analysis revealed significant fire-induced changes in key soil properties, including moisture content (M), texture, electrical conductivity (EC), total Nitrogen (TN), organic carbon (OC), organic matter (OM), and mineral content (K⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Fe, and Mn). In contrast, no significant differences were observed in pH, CaCO₃, and Mg²⁺ contents. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed marked spectral shifts in mineral bands, particularly in the mid-infrared region, distinguishing burned from unburned soils. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis further demonstrated progressive crystallographic alterations, including peak broadening, reduced intensity, and microstructural degradation in fire-affected soils, indicating mineral disorder and reduced crystallinity. These findings highlight the long-term effects of fire on soil composition, structure, and other parameters that play a critical role in forest resilience, ecosystem recovery, and biodiversity conservation in Mediterranean woodland environments.

Keywords

After-fire, FTIR, XRD, Tamgout Forest, Soil

Authors’ address

(1)

0009-0002-0152-9603
0009-0003-4907-9557
0000-0003-2936-2470
Department of Biology, Faculty of Biology and Agronomy, Mouloud Mammeri University, Tizi Ouzou, 15000 (Algeria)

(2)

0009-0003-6606-244x
0009-0002-6768-1368
Soil Science Laboratory, National Forest Research Institute, Bainem, Algiers (Algeria)

(3)

0000-0003-1585-4853
Materials Physics Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Science and Technology, University of Houari Boumediene - USTHB, Bab-Ezzouar, B.P. 32.16111 Algiers (Algeria)

(4)

0000-0002-1913-248x
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Relizane, Relizane (Algeria)

Corresponding author

Karima Sebki
karima.sebki@ummto.dz

Citation

Sebki K, Chekired ZE, Mehdi B, Allam A, Zanndouche O, Metna B, Meddour R (2026). Post-fire assessment of soil physicochemical properties in Tamgout Forest, Northern Algeria. iForest 19: 403-410. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4956-019

Academic Editor

Davide Ascoli

Paper history

Received: Aug 05, 2025
Accepted: Apr 18, 2026

First online: Nov 09, 2026
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2026
Publication Time: 6.83 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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