In 2014 Sweden experienced the largest and most severe wildifre in modern time. The burnt area is intensively managed for forestry which includes extensive drainage of peatlands in some catchments. The immediate effect of fire on the downstream water quality is rarely quantified and possible interactions with land-use and land cover charect eristics is not well known. We studied water quality (No3, NH4…..etc) in 9 catchments from 3 weeks to one year after the fire occurred. A simple burn severity map was produced with remote sensing techniques. Maps on land cover and drainage (ditches) were extracted from data bases. Our results show that an extremely high sulfate pulse (1-2 months after fire) were buffered by the release of base cations, and likely presence of organic matter, which largely suppressed surface water acidification in the area. In line with earlier results, the increased nutrient export returns quickly to normal values and is not detectable one year. Differences in the water chemical response were linked to differences in land cover and drainage. Ditched and forested wetlands burn deeper and may contribute ……Lakes and and natural wetlands are more fire resistant… Nutrient leaching is generally higher in areas with high wetland cover where organic matter is oxidized by the fire. In conclusion,……

*Corresponding author: [email protected] Target journal: Biogeosciences/Ambio Rough draft deadline: christmas