Effects of Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery on Soil Erosion in Vulnerable Montane Regions in a Monsoon Climate: A Decade of Monitoring

In areas with frequent fires and erosive soils under monsoon climate, we aimed to determine the long-term dynamics of soil loss during vegetation recovery and to examine elapsed time for soil stabilization. Runoff plots were installed inPinus densifloraforests affected by stand-replacing fires on the East Coast of South Korea, which occurred in spring 2000. Runoff plots measured runoff and sediment yields for 11 years (2003-2013) during which time, vegetation cover of low-, intermediate-, and high-vegetation cover plots increased from 21 to 44%, 49% to 69%, and 87% to 95%, respectively. Vegetation was effective in preventing runoff and sediment yield. Nevertheless, to stabilize to below baseline load, it took 7 years at low and intermediate cover plots and only 3 years at high cover plots. For 7 years, 7.06 (5.2-fold) and 4.29 (3.1-fold) kg m(-2)of soil were lost at the low and intermediate cover plots, respectively, compared to the high cover plots (1.37 kg m(-2)). Sediment loss fluctuated more than runoff following extreme rainfall events. We suggest that for the slow recovery area (< 70% cover), appropriate measures should be introduced to prevent soil erosion immediately after a fire, and logging should be postponed until the soil is stabilized for 3 years even in fast recovery areas (> 70% cover).