Effect of fire on soil properties beneath Quercus calliprinos in Lebanon ant its impact on regeneration and leave components

Aim of the research was to investigate the effects of fire on regeneration capacity of <i>Quercus calliprinos</i> and physiochemical soil properties in three representatives burned plots in Lebanon: Obeidat, Hakel and Batroun. <br>The soil organic matter content after the fire decreased strongly and varied between 9.8 and 7% with highest fall (38.2%) in Obeidat. The electrical conductivity was higher in the burned than the unburned plots with 0.23 in Batroun followed respectively by Obeidat (0.16) and Hakel (0.13). N decreased in the burned sites with the highest loss in Hakel (38.4%). The highest loss of Phosphorus was in Hakel from 22.2 to 0.63ppm. The potassium varied between 155 and 498ppm. Sodium and magnesium were not influenced; iron was highly influenced and almost a total loss was detected in Hakel (99%), while calcium content increased by 41.5% in Batroun.</br> The second part of the study analyze the regeneration of <i>Quercus calliprinos</i> after wildfire in term of length and number newly developed leaves during the third year after fire. The twigs elongation was highly influenced by season (p<0.001) and status (p<0.001). The chemical constitutions of the aqueous extract were analyzed by GC/MS which resulted in the identification of eighteen constituents, representing 82.3% of the extracts; 1-deoxy-inositol (11.9%), cyclotrisiloxane hexamethyl (10.15%), cis-13-docosenamide (6.21%), silicic acid (3.96%) and pyrogallol (3.87%) being the main components.