Modelling effects of forest fire and post-fire management in a catchment prone to erosion: Impacts on sediment yield

[Display omitted] •MUSLE is able to predict sedimentary response and mitigation measures in burnt areas.•High-severity fire increase soil erosion and sediment load at the basin scale.•Emergency stabilization and soil erosion barriers are effective to reduce soil erosion.•SWAT model may be a post-fire management decision tool. The present paper contributes to bridging the gaps in modelling post-fire impact and mitigation measures on soil erosion. The specific aims were to predict the effects of forest fires and post-fire mitigation measures on runoff and specific sediment yield (SSY) in a river basin (Celone, S-E Italy). The Soil and Water Assessment Tool model, calibrated with field observations, was used to evaluate runoff and SSY for the current land use (baseline) and six post-fire scenarios. From 1990 to 2011, at the basin scale, the average annual SSY was 5.60 t ha- 1yr−1 (SD = 3.47 t ha-1yr−1). 20% of the total drainage area showed a critical value of SSY (>10 t ha−1 yr−1). The effects of different fire-severity levels were predicted for one year after the fire, acting on a limited area (2.3% of the total basin area). At the basin scale, the post-fire effect on surface runoff was negligible for all scenarios (