Abstract A comparative assessment of the pools of fungal and bacterial biomass in dark humus forest soil has been performed using luminescent microscopy and cascade filtration. Cascade filtration indicates that the bacterial biomass is compatible to the fungal biomass (31–54% for bacteria and 46–69% for fungi) in the upper horizons of investigated soil. However, in the lower horizons, the bacterial

Abstract The problem of the quantitative assessment and prediction of suffosion-induced subsidence in saline soils and sediments is relevant for irrigation, washing of saline soils, and increasing amounts of domestic and industrial effluents. Based on the solution of the convective diffusion equation and taking into account the dissolution of salts of the solid phase, the presented mathematical analytical

Abstract The water-soluble components originated in coniferous litters desorb into solution the native organic substances from the solid phase of the eluvial horizons of podzols and podzolic soil. In podzols, the water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) extracted from litter and then passing through the E horizons are sorbed by the BFH horizons if their concentration in solution exceeds 35 mg C/L. The sorption

Abstract The application of direct seeding technology on typical and ordinary chernozems in the European territory for four years has resulted in a significant increase in the content of soil organic matter in regions with sufficient moisture supply and some tendency of its in regions with insufficient moisture supply (Stavropol region). A tendency for an increase in the available phosphorus and exchangeable

Abstract Soil temperature was measured in the O horizon of Albic Podzol on two sites of strongly contaminated and damaged ecosystem from September 22 to July 10 in 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. The ecosystem is located 8 km to the north of the Severonikel industrial complex (the Kola Peninsula), the largest source of emissions of SO2 and heavy metals in Northern Europe. The aim of the study was to compare

Abstract Sorption-stimulating preparation for pre-sowing seed treatment, containing calcium bentonite, potassium humate, brewer’s yeast autolysate, gibberellin and polyethylene glycol has been created. It stimulates efficiently plant development from spring wheat seeds at early stages on different soils. It has been shown that high water hardness has no negative impact on the effect of stimulant. The

Abstract Detailed mapping of soils under a multi-row 4-km-long 50-year-old forest shelterbelt crossing diverse landforms and under adjacent croplands was performed at the key site in Belgorod oblast, in the south of the Central Russian Upland. Samples were collected in 30 points both in the central part of the shelterbelt and at distances of 30 meters on both sides of the shelterbelt. Maps of the depth

Abstract Trends of changes in the properties of solonetzic soil complexes of the dry-steppe and semidesert zones under the impact of land reclamation measures. agricultural use, and further withdrawal of reclaimed land from agricultural use were analyzed. Our own and published data were used as information sources. An expert evaluation of the modern status of reclaimed solonetzes of abandoned fields

Abstract The mobility of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn in podzols and organic soils (Histosols) in the area of long-term pollution from the Monchegorsk copper–nickel plant (Murmansk oblast, Russia) has been assessed using the parameters of diffusion and convection–diffusion models. The found values of diffusion parameters match the data for other regions. In most cases, the convective flow of heavy metals

Abstract Understanding spatial variations of soil properties is necessary for the management of rangelands vegetation ecosystem. The present study aimed to assess the spatial variations of soil properties in the hillslope of the Taftan semi-active volcanic mountain, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, south-eastern Iran. The locations of 30 sampling points were determined using random - systematic method

Abstract Landscapes of the northern part of the Bolshoi Paipudynskii Ridge (the Polar Urals) served as a key site to study the taxonomic diversity of soils on calcareous rocks as related to both bioclimatic and geogenic (relief, thickness of eluvial and colluvial derivatives of calcareous rocks) factors. Soils of the postlithogenic trunk of the new Russian soil classification system are developed under

Abstract Plant roots have great effect on the process of soil detachment, but the contribution of the physical and biochemical effects of root on soil detachment have not been sufficiently evaluated. For the purpose to distinguish the relative contribution of the root physical effect and biochemical effect to soil erosion resistance, three kinds of treatment, soil samples without roots, dead roots

Abstract— Concurrent with the Chernobyl accident along the explosions caused by nuclear tests and advances in nuclear sciences, researchers around the world have been trying to examine the potential of fallout radionuclides for accurate estimation of soil erosion and redistribution. The inadequacy of the existence of radionuclides and the complexity of factors affecting the amount of these elements

Abstract— The objective of this paper is to test the feasibility of using the SWAT model under limited data availability to estimate soil erosion in two adjacent watersheds, namely Mazer (gauged) and El Himer (ungauged) watersheds. In this study, we used the physical proximity approach as one of the regionalization methods while ensuring the similarity between both watersheds. Moreover, the comparison

Abstract The application of sorption preparations (SP) based on bentonite-humate mixtures for seed stimulating treatment upon sowing into the soddy-podzolic soil (Albic Retisols (Loamic, Aric, Cutanic, Ochric)) was studied. The correlation between seeds’ inhibition by soil and the efficiency of SP application was found. The SP treatment was not always efficient for spring wheat cultivars. For some

Abstract Properties of chernozems of different-aged abandoned plots are compared with their analogues within cropland in the Rostov oblast (Russia). The main attention is focused on the carbonate status of chernozems. The field data on the morphology of soil profiles, results of meso- and micromorphological examination, and physicochemical properties of soils are analyzed; the carbonates were dated

Abstract Under the circumstance of wetland degradation, we used Biolog EcoPlatesTM method to investigate the impact of ecological restoration on the function of topsoil microbial communities by monitoring their metabolic diversity around Chaohu lakeside wetland. Four restoration patterns were selected, including reed shoaly land (RL), poplar plantation land (PL), abandoned shoaly grassland (GL) and

Abstract A comparative assessment of carbon accumulation in the soils of pine forests in western Russia (the Republic of Karelia, the Karelian Isthmus, and Bryansk region) developed on coarse-textured parent materials has been made. The total carbon stock in the litter and upper soil layer (0–50 cm) varied from 47 t/ha in the soils of pine forests of Bryansk region to 116 t/ha in the soils of pine

Abstract The main objectives of this study is to model the transport of methylene blue (MB) in homogenous and layered soils which has been studied experimentally by fixed bed column. The effect of soil stratification has been studied through numerical investigation based on the coupled solute transport model in three-layered soil. The effect of some significant parameters such as flow rate, initial

Abstract The results of a comprehensive study of soils under a 30-m-wide five-row oak shelterbelt of meridional orientation and on the adjacent arable fields of the agroforestry landscape in typical forest-steppe of Belgorod oblast are discussed. Background soils are medium-deep light clayey leached chernozems (Luvic Chernozems) on calcareous loesslike heavy loam. As a result of tree growth during

Abstract A field experiment was conducted to study the initial stages of chloritization (aluminization) of smectite (fraction <1 μm) with various composition of interlayers in the AELoa horizon of the podzolic soil in the course of current pedogenesis. Application of XRD analysis coupled with the simulation of experimental diffraction patterns led us to a conclusion that during one-year incubation

Abstract An experiment with the enrichment of acid organic-rich mountain-meadow soils (Umbric Leptosols) of alpine ecosystems with mineral nutrients has demonstrated that the contents of organic carbon, total nitrogen, and labile organic compounds are stable and tolerant towards long-term (20 years) application of mineral fertilizers. Only the following direct effects are well pronounced: an increase

Abstract― Humin plays a key role in various environmental processes like nutrient retention, carbon sequestration together with contaminant migration. Due to the resistance of humin to microbial degradation, exploring the mineralization process of phosphorus associated with humin is relevant to evaluate the lability of organic phosphorus and to develop a sustainable nutrient management strategy in

Abstract The purpose of the work is a comparative study of the molecular composition of thermolabile (volatilizes at 300°C) and thermostable (volatilizes at 500°C) fractions of organic matter from humus horizons of typical chernozems by double-shot pyrolysis followed by gas chromatographic separation and mass detection of the products. The objects of the study are typical chernozems under different

Abstract— A study was conducted with the purpose of comparing the efficiency of ammonium acetate (NH4OAc), Mehlich 3 (M-3), Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) and alpha MIR spectroscopy measurement, for the determination of available potassium (K) on 58 Ethiopian agricultural soils. Four soil reference groups were sampled for the study. The NH4OAc extractant was used as standard method against which K values

Abstract The aim of the research was to analyze the relationship of color indicators of soil layers with the parameters obtained by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiling. Such parameters were the data of the spectral Fourier transform of the amplitude of the reflected pulse in the subsurface horizons of the soils of the Kamennaya Steppe area. GPR profiling was carried out by a Loza-V geophysical

Abstract Estimates of the spatial heterogeneity of the organic matter distribution in forest soils determined by the influence of the species and spatial structure of phytocenoses are relevant for many environmental problems, including the calculation of carbon sinks and modeling of the dynamics of forest ecosystems. We analyzed the data on the organic carbon (Corg) and total nitrogen (Ntot) contents

Abstract We summarized the results of studies of pedodiversity and contrast and variability of soil properties based on the analyses of soil maps of different scales for the republics of Karelia and Dagestan and the Moscow region. We used fragments of the Soil Map of the Russian Federation on a scale of 1 : 2 500 000 as a small-scale map and three different medium-scale maps (from 1 : 300 000 to 1

Abstract The sorption and desorption of a mixture of phenolic acids by the kaolinite modified with aluminum hydroxide was studied in the presence of acetate buffer. The experiments were performed in a 1-mL flow-through microcolumn in 5 and 50 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.5) at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The total concentration of phenolic acids was 0.01 mg/mL (0.06 mM); the concentration of each

Abstract Physical and geochemical properties of six soils developed on tephra from Mts. Kupe and Manengouba were studied in order to assess the degree of weathering of the tephric parent materials. Physico-chemical properties were determined following standard procedures. Total elemental contents and selective extracted contents of Al and Fe by acid ammonium oxalate, dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate

Abstract Comprehensive studies of the biological status of ordinary chernozem (Haplic Chernozem (Loamic)) were carried out in the early years of the fallow regime in comparison with its arable analogue, old fallow, and the reference virgin steppe soils. They included a field experiment on the conversion of an old-arable plot with the ordinary chernozem in Botanical Garden of the Southern Federal University

Abstract Grain for Green Program (GFGP) by establishing revegetation on degraded cropland has been considered effective to capture soil carbon (C) in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the magnitude and direction of soil C sequestration and its relation to soil nitrogen (N) dynamics are still poorly known. This study analyzed the literature to determine the influence of low-yield cropland conversion

Abstract The specific features in the distribution of organic and mineral nitrogen compounds in marsh and tundra soils of the European Russian Arctic (coastal areas of the Barents and White Seas) were analyzed. Total nitrogen was determined by gas chromatography (CHNS-O elemental analyzer), and inorganic nitrogen, by photometry. The composition of hydrolyzable amino acids was analyzed by liquid chromatography

Abstract The content and profile distribution of 137Cs in iron-illuvial dwarf and shallow-podzolic podzols (Albic Podzols) under bilberry-lichen and green-lichen-bilberry pine forests in the located near the Kola Nuclear Power Plant have been analyzed. The pollution density (reserve) of 137Cs in the root-inhabited layer (0–30 cm) in the studied soils was significantly lower than the established control

Abstract The analysis of various ways of agricultural land assessment is presented. Disadvantages and limitations of the soil-ecological index application are shown. The necessity of differentiation and expansion of assessment indicators in conditions of agriculture intensification is justified. The experience of agroecological assessment, typology and classification of agricultural landscapes and

Abstract This article presents the results of research on the impact of no-till technology on the natural bulk density and macro- and microaggregate composition of the topsoil (0–20 cm) in different subtypes of chernozems before sowing and during the growing season. Haplic Chernozems (Loamic, Aric, Pachic) and Haplic Chernozems (Loamic, Aric) were studied. For all chernozems, improvement of physical

Abstract An increasing rate of the use of nanoparticles necessitates regarding them as a new class of toxicants. Nanodiamonds hold a special position because of their use in consumer goods, such as fuels and lubricants, which increases the risk of soil pollution with these nanoparticles. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of water-soluble soil components on the electrokinetic potential

Abstract In this article, we discuss the contribution of capillary wetting and multiple freezing and thawing to the formation and evolution of vesicular micro– and mesoporosity in an aggregate of 3 mm in diameter from the eluvial horizon of soddy–podzolic soil (Albic Glossic Retisol (Loamic, Cutanic)). The main visible changes occur during capillary wetting and the first four cycles of freezing and

Abstract Arid and semiarid soils of southern Iran may fix a large content of applied potassium (K), but the fixed K may be gradually supplied to plants. Sixteen representative soils under orange cultivation (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) from arid and semiarid regions of southern Iran were selected and K fixation capacity of the soils were calculated. Then, the K-treated and control soil samples were

Abstract A comparative study of mountain-meadow and mountain-forest soils was performed within the entire Dolgorukovskaya Yayla—a plateau on the northern macroslope of the Main Ridge of the Crimean Mountains—in the altitudinal range from 560 to 975 m a.s.l. Soil morphology, texture, acidity, exchangeable cations, nonsilicate iron content, parameters of the humus status, and optical characteristics

Abstract Vertisolization —the development of vertic properties and vertic horizons—is a widespread process leading to adverse physical and technological properties of chernozems.. There is still no generally accepted theory of the genesis of this phenomenon, although it is a priori clear that the physicochemical mechanisms of the interaction between fine particles and soil water in swell–shrink cycles

Abstract Soils of Bykovo lacustrine-like floodplain section have a complicated landuse history: alternation of meadows, suburban farming, cropland with partial land leveling and local drainage, now – 10 years-old layland. The effects of these events along with manifestations of fluvial pedogenesis were studied in thin sections. Well-known micromorphological features of alluvial soils have been confirmed

Abstract In this study, the contribution weight of soil and water conservation effect of forest canopy layer and grass layer were calculated and analyzed using the measured data of soil loss (SL) and surface runoff depth (RD) in 12 experimental plots in Changting County, Fujian Province, China. Results indicate that the average SL and RD followed the order: pure tree > pure grass > tree-grass. Either

Abstract— Pedogenesis on the terraces of lacustrine–alas depressions in the tundra zone of the Kolyma Lowland takes place on sediments that are different in genesis but have significantly similar composition and properties. Soil morphology and soil cover patterns on terraces and slopes of depressions reflect the main trends of the Holocene pedogenesis and the rearrangement of the environment. On the

Abstract Quantification of soil plasticity is usually based on Atterberg limits or indices, which are then used for engineering and agricultural purposes on clay soils. Because these limits/indices are seldom analyzed during routine soil surveys, they are sometimes estimated from available soil properties using pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Main aim of this study was to test if two robust PTFs, previously

Abstract An increasing participation of dwarf shrubs and shrubs in plant communities of alpine meadows and a tendency to a decrease in summer precipitation in mountain regions determine the relevance of assessing the role of ectomycorrhiza and ericoid mycorrhiza, as well as the soil moisture status, in nutrient availability for plants and microorganisms. The properties of a mountain-meadow soil (Umbric

Abstract Application of monoammonium phosphate has been demonstrated to re-immobilize glyphosate sorbed by soil under model laboratory experiment conditions. This effect was most pronounced in the gray forest soil (Haplic Phaeozem), where the concentration of herbicide in the presence of fertilizer was 3.6 times higher than in its absence. For soddy-podzolic soil (Albic Retisol) and leached Chernozem

Abstract Active development of the Cis-Ol’khon area in the past decades enhanced the conflicts between land users related to multifunctional land use (residential, agricultural, recreational, and nature-protective), which should be resolved on the basis of scientific data. The aim of this study is to compile a soil map of the coastal zone of the Ol’khon Plateau of 26.3 km2 in area. This area is subjected

Abstract Comprehensive studies of soils in some Russian cities (Nadym, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Kursk, and Sochi) were carried out. In relation to natural analogues, the direction and degree of changes in the properties of the upper soil horizons and the state of soil microorganisms are controlled by the natural zone, where the city is located, and by the kind and level of anthropogenic load

Abstract It is shown that interdisciplinarity in soil science as a scientific area has been growing ever more rapidly in recent years, while the dissemination of related information over different scientific journals has become excessive and still continues to increase. In particular, the number of Russian journals publishing papers on soil science and represented in the eLIBRARY.ru database increased

Abstract The extractable fractions of organic matter (OM) differing in their mobility—water-extractable organic matter, labile humic substances, and humic substances—have been isolated from different-sized aggregates of a typical chernozem (Haplic Chernozem (Loamic, Pachic)). The first two fractions characterize the active OM pool, and the latter fraction characterizes the slow OM pool. Overall, the

Abstract Soil microbial respiration is a biological process that converts soil organic matter into atmospheric CO2 via soil microorganisms. It reflects the overall metabolic activity of soil microbial populations and usually used as an indicator of soil health. Soil chemical properties, among others, have an influence on a catabolic capacity of the soil and greatly vary among different soil layers

Abstract The anthropogenic evolution of zheltozems (Acrisols) in the sanatorium zone of the Sochi agglomeration is characterized by a change in the acid-base properties and humus status of soils since the late 1920s. The pHwater shifted from 5.1 to 7.4 (mean values for soil genetic horizons) and the total exchangeable bases increased 2.4 times (from 17.2 to 41.2 cmol(+)/kg) in the topsoil and 1.3 times

Abstract The objectives of this research are prediction of soil drainage curve using Assouline and Or (2014) adjusted soil drainage model and comparison of the predicted results with experimental data on small and large scales. This research is conducted for 18 small soil columns under different salinity level of irrigation water using different scenarios. In scenario A, water from saturated water

Abstract The taxonomic structure of microbial communities in the Late Pleistocene paleosols of different ages in the Central Russian Upland formed under contrasting climatic conditions were analyzed. The humic horizons of paleosols in the interstadial periods of the Early Valdai (105–95 kyr ago), Middle Valdai (33–24 kyr ago), Mikulino interglacial (130–117 kyr ago), and of the modern (Holocene) chernozem

Abstract The application of agricultural wastes to the soil does not only improve soil fertility but also helps in the recycling of agricultural waste resources. However, the effects of agricultural organic materials on soil physicochemical properties in primary saline and alkaline lands unsatisfactory. In this study, the effects of different organic materials on the physicochemical properties of primary

Abstract To determine the distribution, migration, and accumulation characteristics of heavy metal pollution in the Youjiang River basin in South China, 71 shallow soil samples were collected from, and amounts of Cd and Pb were determined. Heavy metal pollution in the river basin was assessed using pollution index methods, potential ecological risk index, and geo-accumulation index. The spatial distribution

Abstract— The impact of two strains of Pseudomonas bacteria and natural zeolite on the growth and elemental composition of barley plants was studied in an agrogray soil (Luvisol) artificially contaminated with cadmium in pot experiments. Application of P. fluorescens 21, or P. putida 23, or zeolite eliminated the heavy metal toxicity for plants. The cumulative effect of co-application of P. fluorescens

Abstract Investigations of changes in the soil and plant covers is necessary when designing technical objects—gas and oil pipelines, highways, and power lines—in order to avoid the adverse effects of these activities and to preserve vulnerable northern ecosystems. Recent changes in the soil–plant cover of the High Arctic of Eastern Siberia are directed towards its higher complexity. Chaotic bare stone

Abstract The results of studying stable carbon isotopes of the organic matter of Late Pleistocene and Holocene soils of the Baikal region are presented. The δ13С values in soils of different ages varies from –30.00 to –21.36‰, which indicates the formation of their organic matter from C3 plants at least in the past 35 ka. Fractionation of isotopes during the organic matter mineralization leads to an