Early-season fires in boreal black spruce forests produce pyrogenic carbon with low intrinsic recalcitrance

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC), a major by-product of wildfires in boreal forests, plays several critical roles in soil biogeochemical processes. However, PyC properties, including its potential recalcitrance, may vary depending on its formation conditions. Our study aimed to characterize the chemical and physical properties of PyC formed under variable fire severity in Eastern Canada boreal forests; these latter represent an important fraction of fire-affected circumboreal ecosystems. A total of 267 PyC samples, produced by early-season wildfires in 2005–2007, were collected ≤5 years after fire from the forest floors of 14 black spruce sites distributed across Quebec, to cover the range of fire severity encountered in these forests. Early-season fires occur frequently in Eastern Canada, and are predicted to increase in regional and global scenarios of future fire regimes associated with climate change. Selected PyC samples were analyzed using elemental analysis, solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) s...