Produccion de CO2 en Andosoles afectados por incendios forestales en el Parque Nacional El Chico, Hidalgo

Soil respiration in soils of Abies religiosa (H.B.K.) Schlecht. et Cham. forests was evaluated in the National Park El Chico after forest fires of low and moderate intensities; the dynamics of CO2 production was measured in these sites as an index of biological activity. It was shown that the effect of moderate forest fires on soil respiration is low, as the values of CO2 fluxes from soil three years after the fire were similar to those of the sites affected by forest fires 35 years ago or not affected at all. Soil respiration at sites affected by surface fires in 1998 was 1.8 times lower than at sites affected by moderate forest fire: CO2 fluxes corresponded to values of 0.036 and 0.065 mg CO2 g(-1) dry soil d(-1), respectively.