Wildfires Pose a Threat to Volcanic Soils in the Peruvian Andes

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By Sofia Moutinho, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: In September 2018, a wildfire ravaged nearly 2,000 hectares of shrubland surrounding Pichu Pichu, an inactive volcano in the Peruvian Andes. It wasn’t the first time. In recent years, this unique ecosystem has increasingly suffered from fires primarily caused by human activities such as deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture. A new study published in the Spanish Journal of Soil Science has revealed that these fires not only damage vegetation but also harm the soil. Even 4 years after the 2018 fires, the study found, vulnerable volcanic soil had not recovered.... 

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