Analysis of soils from burned and unburned chaparral indicates that high nitrate concentrations following fire are due to the addition of ammonium and organic nitrogen in the ash. Inhibition of mineralization in unburned chaparral results in low nitrate concentrations. Fluctuations in the amount of soil nitrate in unburned chaparral are the direct result of foliar leaching.
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Norman L. Christensen (1973) studied this question.
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