Guzmán Rojo, MónicaFernandez, JeanneD’Abzac, PaulHuysmans, MarijkeDepartment of Water and Climate, Vrije Universiteit BrusselDepartment of Earth Sciences, Uppsala UniversityCentro de Investigación en Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías, Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo, Cochabamba, BoliviaCentro de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Oriente Boliviano, Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia2024-10-012024-10-012024https://repositorio.ucb.edu.bo/handle/20.500.12771/791https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/18/2562ncreasing wildfire activity has led to complex ecosystem consequences, with direct effects on the subsystems that affect the presence and movement of water. Although studies have inves- tigated the cascading effects of wildfires on the water balance, our understanding of broad-scale groundwater modifications post fire remains unclear. This review aims to elucidate fire-induced shifts in the water balance, their causal factors, and their potential effects on groundwater recharge. By scrutinizing prior research examples that modeled post-fire recharge scenarios, the review highlights persistent knowledge gaps. The challenge of quantifying and integrating fire-induced alterations in precipitation, wind, and land temperature patterns into recharge projection models is specifically addressed. Despite these gaps, post-fire values of hydrologically meaningful parameters such as leaf area index (LAI), curve number (CN), and near-surface saturated hydraulic conductivity (KST) have been identified. Simulating post-fire recharge via the extrapolation of these values requires the consideration of site-specific conditions, vegetation recovery, and ash removal. It frequently results in a reduced interception and increased surface runoff, while evapotranspiration remains dependent on site-specific factors and often dictates groundwater recharge estimates. Although post-fire recharge simulations are inherently complex and imprecise, their growing application can guide land-use alterations and support policy implementation that considers fire-induced water availability changesenGroundwater rechargeWater-balance processesWildfire impactsWildfiresForest hydrologyArticle