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Spring grassland fires are common in boreal areas as a consequence of slash and burn agriculture used to remove dry grass to increase soil nutrient properties and crop production. However, fewworks have investigated fire impacts on these grassland ecosystems, especially in the immediate period after the fire. The objective of this work was to study the short-termimpacts of a spring grassland fire in Lithuania. Four days after the firewe established a 400 m2 sampling grid within the burned area and in an adjacent unburned area with the same topographical, hydrological and pedological characteristics. Wecollected topsoil samples immediately after the fire (0 months), 2, 5, 7 and 9 months after the fire. We analysed soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), major nutrients including calcium(Ca), magnesium(Mg), sodium(Na), and potassium(K), and theminor elements aluminium(Al), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). We also calculated the soil Na and K adsorption ratio (SPAR), Ca:Mg and Ca:Al. The results showed that this low-severity grassland fire significantly decreased soil pH, Al, and Mn but increased EC, Ca,Mg, and K,. There was no effect on Na, Fe, and Zn. Therewas a decrease of EC, Ca,Mg, and Na from 0months after the fire until 7 months after the fire,with an increase during the last sampling period. Fire did not significantly affect SPAR. Ca:Mg decreased significantly immediately after the fire, but not to critical levels. Ca:Al increased after the fire, reducing the potential effects of Al on plants. Overall, fire impactsweremainly limited to the immediate period after the fire.
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