Post-Fire Impacts on Watershed Water Quality and Hydrology

Wildfires have the potential to cause significant disruptions to the natural water cycle within watersheds, leading to far-reaching impacts. Beyond the evident detrimental effects on vegetation and soil properties, the hydrological and erosive response in burned areas triggers the mobilization of various constituents, including sediments, ash, contaminants, and nutrients. These elements can have profound consequences on downstream waterbodies. These "off-site impacts” compromise aquatic ecosystems, jeopardize the availability of drinking water, and pose serious threats to human and animal health. Moreover, wildfire could potentially impact the hydrological dynamics by altering the flow magnitude and timing, therefore influencing water availability and resource management. While the scientific community has traditionally studied wildfire impacts mostly by experimental approaches (field or laboratory work), recent advancements have emerged in the form of numerical models that integrate hydrological and water quality models for rivers and reservoirs/lakes. These innovative approaches show promise in predicting the potential negative impacts of wildfires across different scales and under various climate and land use scenarios.

This research topic aims to showcase the latest research and developments encompassing all fields related to post-fire impacts on water quality in watersheds. It aims to accomplish two key goals: (i) fostering a better understanding of the underlying processes involved in the impact of wildfires on downstream water quality and quantity within watersheds, and (ii) enhancing prevention plans and enabling informed post-fire land management decisions.

To gather further insights into the complex interactions between wildfires, hydrologic dynamics, and water quality, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Post-fire sediment and nutrient transport
- Impact of wildfires on aquatic ecosystems
- Hydrological modeling of post-fire scenarios
- Water quality monitoring and assessment techniques
- Mitigation strategies for post-fire water quality management
- Case studies on wildfire impacts on water resources
- Climate change implications on wildfire and water quality dynamics
- Policy and management frameworks for post-fire watershed management

Keywords: water quality, watershed hydrology, land management, postfire processes, wildfires, numerical modelling

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.