Abstract The erosive capacity of slope water flows, a key parameter in the quantitative assessment of soil erosion, is defined as the difference between the transporting capacity of the flow and the total content of its suspended load and bedload. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the factors and intensity of soil aggregates attrition in the water flow that determine the shares of suspended and

Abstract The role of ornithogenic factor in the formation of soils and soil cover patterns in continental and maritime Antarctica is considered. The results of long-term soil studies at key sites in coastal oases of East Antarctica (Larsemann Hills, the Haswell Islands) and on the Subantarctic islands (King George Island, Livingston Island, the Argentine Islands) are summarized. The influence of the

Abstract Soil organic matter (SOM) includes many classes of labile compounds available for microbial decomposition or, conversely, stable compounds protected from biodegradation by biological, chemical, and physical stabilization. It is believed that the more thermal energy is spent on the destruction of soil organic matter, the more stable and more resistant for biodegradation it is. We compared the

Abstract The research was conducted in the European northeast of Russia (Komi Republic), in the reclaimed quarries for mining construction sand in the middle taiga subzone, in the course of two decades after the forest reclamation (Pinus sylvestris) had been applied. The specific features of initial pedogenesis on substrates of different textures have been revealed. On sands and sandy loams, the dynamic

Abstract— Soil is a fundamental component to an ecological system. This study is aimed to clarify the spatial heterogeneity of soils in the Houzhai River basin and the factors controlling it. Overall, 2755 sites designed using ArcGIS were studied; soil thickness, vegetation, land use (human disturbance), and topographic characteristics were analyzed. Soils in the basin are characterized by the high

Abstract— Modern analytical research methods tend to automate the process and minimize any manual intervention. This also applies to image analysis of tomographic slices as part of the tomographic study of soils. To calculate morphometric parameters, a tomographic image must be segmented (divided into phases) via automated or manual thresholding. The problem in automated thresholding algorithms is

Abstract Land use type affects the soil organic carbon (SOC) which is an important indicator of soil quality. Current study was aimed to investigate land use type and seasonal impact on soil properties, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen under three land use types i.e. cropland (CL), grassland (GL) and forestland (FL) of a sub-temperate highland of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Soil samples were taken

Abstract— The dynamics of the content and properties of water-soluble organic matter and the biological activity of soils of dwarf-shrub heath and graminoid meadow of alpine tundra on slopes of different aspects are estimated. The variation of most of the studied parameters during the growing season is revealed, which confirms the importance of dynamic observations in assessing the role of soils in

Abstract For the first time, a comparative study of the influence of two species of earthworms (Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris) on the composition of the prokaryotic complex of Umbric Albeluvisols was carried out using the methods of metagenomics. Prokaryotes in the soil and casts were represented mostly by Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes

Abstract Mire ecosystems in Western Siberia play a significant role in the environment and sustain ecological balance in the biosphere. The aim of the research was to study the chemical and biological processes of mire pedogenesis and the influence of this process on the formation of the composition of bog water and its migration to surface waters. The research was carried out in the southern taiga

Abstract— Application of mineral fertilizers is an effective way to increase crop yield. It is unclear whether their long-term application can effectively improve soil fungal community composition. In this study, we investigated soil nutrient properties, yield, and soil fungi community composition using ITS rRNA sequencing based on a 38-year wheat–maize rotation field experiment on the Gleyic Cambisols

Abstract— The microbial population of soil is diverse and is regulated by different soil properties. This study aimed to determine the impact of climate and grazing on soil community composition in two semiarid areas, Kerman province, Iran. Soil samples were taken from four zones which were either cold or warm and either grazed by cattle or not grazed. Soil chemical analyses were determined by standard

Abstract— The mineralogical composition of nano-clays (NCs), and their potential implications in soil bulk properties of Indian Vertisols are unexplored. In this study, we have isolated NCs (<100 nm) from Deccan basalt (DB) alluvium derived Vertisols (Typic Haplusterts) of central India and characterized them for their mineralogy and crystalline behavior. The soils are clayey (>60%) in texture, rich

Abstract Widespread industrial pollution and its serious ecological and economic consequences make it urgent to develop and refine approaches to remediation of soils as a key ecosystem component. The long-term impact of atmospheric emissions from nonferrous metallurgy enterprises in Monchegorsk (Murmansk region) resulted in the formation of technogenic barrens with contaminated and highly degraded

Abstract A comparative study of modern flood sediments (floodplain alluvium) and sediments of the initial stage of overgrowing of oxbow lakes (oxbow alluvium) in the middle reaches of the Kamchatka River has been performed for the first time using group bioanalysis. The differences in the percentage of different forms of diatoms and microresidues of higher plants have been revealed. The comparison

Abstract The soils of archaeological sites on river floodplains with contrasting history of the Holocene soil evolution in the south and north of the forest-steppe zone on the Central Russian Upland have been studied. The conditions for the meadow-chernozemic soil development on the high floodplain in the lower course of the Savala River (Voronezh oblast) were most favorable in the Early Holocene (10

An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321300013

Abstract In a long-term field experiment in the western part of the nonchernozemic zone of Russia (Smolensk oblast) on sandy loamy soddy-podzolic soil (Albic Glossic Retisol (Loamic)), the comparison of the effect of various rates and combinations of organic and mineral fertilizers revealed their efficiency in all the studied variants, except for the separate application of phosphorus fertilizers.

Abstract The review briefs and analyzes the quantitative data on the input and content of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in soil, their possible transformations, and toxicity. The currently available data on the AgNPs content in soil are exclusively based on simulation results and vary in a wide range from 5.33 × 10–6 to 7.4 µg/kg at an annual input rate of 1.2 × 10–3 to 9.68 µg/kg. The main variants

Abstract— Biological soil crusts (BSCs), are common on soil surface in arid and semiarid regions. They consist of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, lichens and bryophytes associated with soil particles. BSCs have significant influence on primary ecosystem processes and are known as ecosystem engineers in drylands. In this study, the effect of BSCs on different soil properties in Kiamaky Wildlife Refuge

Abstract Global climate change in recent decades is accompanied by rising temperatures and increasing cyclonic activity with strong air flows. How do they affect soil respiration? Is it possible to expect an increase in CO2 emissions and, consequently, a positive feedback of climate change through the greenhouse effect? These questions cannot be answered without the insight into the effect of wind

Abstract— Hysteresis of soil water retention curve (SWRC hysteresis) is widely used for modeling water flux in an unsaturated soil during infiltration and irrigation processes. The aim of the work was to predict soil moisture of a wetting curve from the main drying branch based on an effective degree of saturation for the drying branch by suggesting pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Furthermore, the efficiency

Abstract In this research, the potential application of phosphate containing zinc-aluminum-layered double hydroxide (Zn-Al-P-LDH) to enhance the availability of P and Zn compared to triple superphosphate (TSP) in a calcareous soil was investigated. First, soil availability of P and Zn at two P levels (18 and 45 mg kg–1) of Zn-Al-P-LDH and TSP were compared in a 70-day incubation procedure. Second,

Abstract The paper concerns influence of water distribution on the bioelectric potential in the soil–plant system. Two methods for measuring bioelectric potentials (BEPs) of plants have been compared, namely an invasive installation of needle electrodes (a) and a noninvasive method of providing contact due to root intergrowth through a metal grid (b). It has been shown that needle electrode installation

Abstract Direct measurement of the least limiting water range (LLWR) is costly and time-consuming. In this study, genetic algorithm-based neural network (ANN-GA), artificial neural network (ANN) and stepwise multivariate regression (SMR) were used to estimate the LLWR of soil using easily measurable soil properties in the Khanmirza Plain. Then, depending on the location of each area, a total of 250

Abstract The succession of natural vegetation on the former arable soils triggers the processes of postagrogenic restoration of soil ecological functions specific of a particular bioclimatic zone. We analyze the postagrogenic dynamics of a set of soil characteristics in the upper (0–5 and 5–10 cm) layers of former arable horizon by the case study of the chronosequence of Retic Albic Podzols (agrosoddy

Abstract Specific features in the content and accumulation of organic carbon and nitrogen in the aggregates of typical chernozems (Protocalcic Chernozems) of long-term experimental plots with different land management systems are assessed. The size fractions in the aggregates of >10, 10–3, 2–1, 1–0.25, and <0.25 mm are examined. The carbon and nitrogen contents are shown to depend on the land management

Abstract The response of the microbial community (microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), basal respiration (BR), and functional diversity (FD)) of agrosoddy-podzolic soil (Albic Glossic Retisols (Loamic, Aric Cutanic, Ochric)) to pollution by heavy metals (HMs: Cu 660, Zn 1100, Pb 650 mg/kg) and carbon-containing preparations (5% of biochar and 0.25% of lignohumate) was studied in model experiment (30 days)

Abstract Ionizing radiation is an important environmental factor affecting the dynamics of biospheric processes in the past and present, as well as limiting the spread of life outside the Earth. The effect of radiation on microorganisms has been studied for decades, but studies of the response of natural microbial ecosystems are still scarce. We have studied the effect of 100 kGy gamma irradiation

Abstract Within the framework of the existing concepts of land degradation assessment, the main ideas about its causes and consequences are formulated, methodological provisions for studying the intensity of degradation processes are defined, and specific methods for assessing the economic component of degradation are developed. The problem of economic assessment of land degradation is complicated

Abstract An approach was developed and tested to spatial assessment of soil organic carbon stock in uniform groups of mineral and organic (litters, peat deposits, and peaty horizons of semihydromorphic soils) soil horizons. Estimation algorithm allowed us to utilize various datasets with different scales, both spatially and attributive sparse data of different veracities, which complemented each other

Abstract Considering human activities are the most direct and important factors leading to the accumulation and loss of soil black carbon (BC), a detailed understanding of soil BC in different functional zones and reasonable soil management are the keys to determine whether soil is the carbon source or carbon sink. In this study, carbon concentrations and isotope compositions of black carbon (BC%,

Abstract Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays an important role in preserving soil fertility. Assessing how topographic factors (slope gradient, slope length, slope shape, and slope position) and their interactions influence the SOC dynamics in the surface soil of longitudinal ridges of sloping farmland is very important for Mollisols protection in Northeast China. The SOC contents and variations were quantified

Abstract Soil micromorphology, by means of the description and analysis of soil thin sections, provides information about soil microstructure, which includes, among other features, morphological data on the aggregates and the porosity derived from structure formation. Soil porosity may be due to both abiotic factors and biological activity (biopores). The aim of this study is to validate a methodology

Abstract The goals of this study were to determine the concentrations of Cu in the soil of olive orchards grown on the Terra rossa and to examine how close the Cu concentration is to contamination limits defined by different soil quality standards. A total of 40 composite topsoil (0–25 cm) samples were collected in the traditional dry farming and highly fragmented olive orchards that covered an area

Abstract Stocks of organic carbon in the northeast of Sakhalin Island average 109.8 kg/m2 in medium-deep oligotrophic peat soils, 75.8 kg/m2 in oligotrophic peat gley soils, 20.9–42.7 kg/m2 in peat gleyzems, and 16.6 kg/m2 in gleyzems. The vertical distribution of volumetric concentrations and the carbon stocks in different subtypes of peat soils and gleyzems have been studied. Linear regression equations

Abstract The capabilities of Sentinel-2 optical multispectral satellite data for modeling nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) contents, their ratio (C : N), and stocks in the litter horizons of forest soils were assessed. The study was conducted in the Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve and its buffer zone. The organic horizon samples were taken on 33 plots selected with due account for the tree species diversity

Abstract Redistribution of sediments and Chernobyl-derived 137Сs transported with them were estimated using a set of field methods and erosion model calculations for the Shchekino reservoir (Tula region) catchment, and changes in the contents of 137Сs in soils of various types that occurred over 1986–2018 were determined. The rate of snowmelt soil erosion on arable land during this period has decreased

Abstract The influence of crop rotation with different saturation with legumes and continuous grain crops (winter rye and spring barley) on the structure of prokaryotic communities and preservation of soil organic matter has been studied in a long-term stationary experiment (1977–2018) on a soddy-podzolic soil (Eutric Albic Retisol (Abruptic, Loamic, Cutanic)) of Perm oblast. Permanent black fallow

Abstract Two sizes of particles have been employed from wood-derived biochar which produced by slow pyrolysis at 650°C under Ar gas flow to investigate size and dosage effects of biochar at cadmium (Cd) sorption via batch experiment in a sandy soil. The macro (MBC) (0.5–1 mm) and nano size (NBC) of biochar divided by sieving and milling by planetary ball mill processes from pristine biochar, respectively

Abstract Knowledge of mass and energy transport is vital to developing and extending agricultural activities in arid and semiarid regions. This work was conducted to investigate the water vapor flux importance in moisture and energy transfer in subsurface soil shallow layers. The experiment was carried out in a sandy soil column installed in the field and irrigated with a pore volume of distilled water

Abstract Urban soils, differing in the intensity of anthropogenic impacts, were studied in several largest (Krasnodar), large (Sochi and Simferopol), and moderately large (Maikop) cities of southern Russia. The obtained data on the diversity of bacterial complexes revealed that urban soils with high anthropogenic load (Sochi, Simferopol, and Krasnodar) undergo considerable transformation of natural

Abstract The recent development of precision farming technologies has necessitated the creation of the maps of sustainable intrafield heterogeneity of soil fertility on the basis of the analysis of remote sensing big data. To create such maps, thousands of remote sensing images for 35 years have been analyzed for each element of the earth surface to identify the areas of reduced fertility. The conducted

Abstract Distribution of total and acid-soluble lead in five major soil types and soil-forming rocks have been studied in the Selenga River delta, the largest affluent of Lake Baikal. A low content of this element in soil-forming rocks (6.0 mg/kg on the average) along with the local soil-geochemical conditions is responsible for its small amount in soils. The bulk lead content in the topsoil (0–20

Abstract Soil formation is influenced mainly by lithology, climate, organic matter, vegetation, topography, and time. Soil-forming processes have been well studied in temperate regions. However, there is little data on such processes in the tropics. In this work, we have studied the environmental magnetic properties of lateritic soils developed on gneiss and charnockite. We sampled surficial soils

Abstract The dynamics of the content of water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) and its resistance to microbiological transformation in the Entic Folic Podzol of the postfire succession in the dwarf-shrub mountain tundra of the Khibiny Mountains are studied. A medium-intensity fire does not cause a statistically significant decrease in the soil WSOM content as compared to the reference plot. The activity

Abstract— The specific features in accumulation and distribution of organic carbon and nitrogen in the aggregates of typical, ordinary, and southern chernozems (Protocalcic Chernozems, Endocalcic Chernozems, and Pantocalcic Chernozems, respectively) during the transition from conventional farming to a no-till system are evaluated. For this purpose, the contents of organic carbon and nitrogen were determined

Abstract Zagros Forest region plays an important role in conserving water and soil resources in Iran. In recent decades, the destructions caused by natural and anthropogenic factors had exacerbated soil erosion in this region. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effects of restoration management on soil erosion control in the region. In this regard, it is also important using the fuzzy inference

Abstract Strongly acid soils (pHKCl < 3.3) are widespread in the northeast of European Russia and are characterized by the low precision of potentiometric measurements of the components of exchangeable acidity. The goal of our study was to identify the causes that reduce the precision of measuring the exchangeable acidity of these soils using single- and two-component model systems of aluminum and

Abstract This study was conducted to assess the impact of some organic amendments on enzyme activities and soil organic carbon (SOC) content of a Calcaric Regosol. The organic amendments included poultry manure compost (CM), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) bagasse biomass (SBB), and its biochar (SBBC). Chemical soil properties and some enzyme activities were analyzed after 2, 4, 8, and 12 months

Abstract Socioeconomic reforms in agrarian sector together with climate changes induce spatial changes in the anthropogenic factors of agricultural soil erosion and soil erosion patterns in the Asian part of Russia. Comparison of pre- and post-reform quantitative parameters of erosion rate and soil loss from arable slopes was performed using logical-mathematical erosion models for different administrative

Abstract— The distribution, mineralization, and transformation of soil organic phosphorus (P) exhibits strong regional characteristics because of variations in climate and pear varieties in Yanbian apple–pear orchard. Soil samples were collected in 11, 25, 40, and 63-year-old apple-pear orchards, at the depths of 0–20 cm, 20–40 cm, and 40–60 cm. Soil aggregates were sieved using the dry sieving method

Abstract— A new method of digital mapping of the soil cover pattern with calculation of the share of soils of different taxa and degree classes for soil erosion in the soil associations is proposed. A comparative analysis of soil maps obtained using different methods of construction (visual expert and digital) and with their different contents (displaying the dominant soil or soil associations) has

Abstract The spatiotemporal variability of CO2 emission from soils of Kursk under different land uses, pollution levels, and soil geneses has been assessed. Data on the seasonal dynamics of CO2 emissions in background (forested recreational areas) and urban soils under the anthropogenic impact are presented. Seasonal dynamics of soil СО2 emission depends on a number of factors: season, type of soil

Abstract The bark of coniferous trees (BCT) is an essential component of the litter in boreal forests. The effects of temperature and mineral additives (N and P) on the rate of BCT decomposition (DecR), its constant (k), total loss of C–CO2, and the changes in BCT chemical composition are assessed in a long-term (12 months) laboratory experiment with soil–bark substrates (SBSs) using three contrasting

Abstract— Soil microbes exert a critical effect on the sustainability of urban lakeside wetland ecosystem. Yet, the magnitude and direction to which ecological restoration affects the soil microbial composition and function remain unclear. Thus, this study was carried out to investigate the structural and functional alterations of soil bacterial community under different restoration patterns, including

Abstract The paper discusses the data obtained in 2015–2018 by the State agrochemical monitoring of soils in Belgorod oblast. The research revealed that organic fertilizers are the main source of microelements entering phytocenoses. They are responsible for 79.2% manganese, 87.3% zinc and 84.2% copper of their total amount introduced with fertilizers and ameliorants. The Ap horizon of the ordinary

Abstract Lanthanides as a separate group of metals geochemically belong to rare earth elements (REEs). For a long time, they have not received proper attention of researchers, whose interest was focused on other harmful environmental pollutants. However, the importance of REEs for modern technologies along with significant gaps in the knowledge about their effects on living organisms has changed the

Abstract The influence of long-term application of organic and mineral fertilizers on the changes of soddy-podzolic soil (Glossic Retisol (Loamic, Aric)) properties was studied. These were: organic carbon content, available nitrogen and phosphorus, and soil exchange complex. The studies were carried out in one-meter soil layer in a long-lasting stationary experiment established in the Perm region in

Abstract Geochemical features of permafrost-affected (Folic Protic Leptic Cryosols, Histic Protic Leptic Cryosols) and Al-Fe-humus soils (Folic Leptic Entic Podzols, Histic Leptic Entic Podzols) have been studied. These soils are widespread in taiga forests of Khentei, Eastern Sayan, and Khangai mountains. Data on the microelemental composition of parent rocks are given. The dispersion coefficients