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Background and aims: Wildfire is a primary driver of forest ecosystem functioning, and fire-induced changes in nutrient cycling and the balance of multiple nutrients may influence plant growth response to burning. However, the relationship between total and available soil stoichiometry and stoichiometric effects on the growth of fine roots following forest fires remain unclear. Methods: We measured the total and available soil C, N, and P concentrations, their ratios, and fine root biomass (FRB) at unburned control, 1-year-postfire, and 11-year-postfire sites in a Chinese boreal larch forest. We analyzed the relationship between soil stoichiometry and FRB. Results: Wildfire significantly reduced the total and available soil C:N:P ratios and FRB immediately postfire. Eleven years postfire, most indicators recovered to the prefire levels except for total soil C:P and N:P ratios, and available C:N ratio. Wildfire increased the associations between total and available soil C:N:P ratios, as well as between FRB and soil C:N:P ratios, but reduced the relationship between FRB and soil nutrient supply. However, these effects became weaker over time. Conclusions: The effects of wildfire on biogeochemical processes in boreal ecosystems extend to the relationship between total and available soil stoichiometry. Wildfires strengthen the linkage between fine roots and soil stoichiometry but weaken the effects of soil nutrient supply in the Great Xing'an Mountains. Therefore, the effects of wildfire on the coupling of soil C, N, and P cycling can produce a more complex soil-plant interaction in the early succession stage of boreal larch forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Wildfires are important disturbances that help to shape the structure and function of forest ecosystems, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are key players in the post-fire recovery of soils and understory vegetation. We aimed to investigate the response of AMF communities to wildfire over different timescales. Methods: Primer set AMV4.5NF/AMDGR was used to amplify soil 18S rRNA gene fragments for the 454 GS-FLX pyrosequencing platform to examine belowground AMF communities 1 and 11 years following low- and high-intensity wildfires in the Greater Khingan Mountains of China. Results: The majority of AMF sequences detected were annotated as Glomeraceae, Claroideoglomeraceae, Diversisporaceae and Acaulosporaceae. Both AMF community composition and alpha-diversity were correlated with herbaceous and shrubby biomass, available phosphorus (AP) and NH, which were in turn altered by wildfire. AMF community composition, alpha-diversity, and phylogenetic structure were significantly altered 1-year-post-fire. However, AMF communities were indistinguishable from unburned forest soils 11-year-post-fire. Conclusions: Our results indicated that AMF communities are resilient to wildfire on decadal timescales. This resilience appears to depend on the post-fire regrowth of understory vegetation and the subsequent recovery of soil chemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]