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

Abstract The main sources of the low-molecular-weight aliphatic and aromatic organic acids (LMWOAs) in soils are plant residues, root exudates, and microbial metabolites. In the solutions of upper soil layers of forest ecosystems, citric, oxalic, and malic acids predominate among aliphatic LMWOAs, while substituted and unsubstituted benzoic and cinnamic acids predominate among aromatic LMWOAs. The

Abstract The effect of commercial humic product Lignohumate® on the biological activity of Latosol under long-term agricultural use with application of pesticides at the Bali Island (Indonesia) was evaluated in model experiments. It was shown that the application of lignohumate in a concentration gradient 0.025–2.5 mg/g resulted in increase in soil microbial community respiration rate by 10–30%, proportionally

Abstract The study of the effect of plants with different type of mycorrhizal symbiosis on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus transformation in soils is important in view of the necessity to predict changes in nutrient cycles upon transformation of the structure of plant communities under changing environmental conditions. The impact of dwarf shrubs (Empetrum hermaphroditum, Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium

Abstract The results of a long-term study of changes in soils and vegetation during postagrogenic succession of sown meadows on reclaimed peat soils (Eutric Histosols) are presented. The study was performed on experimental plots in the Korzinskaya Lowland (Karelia); sowing of perennial grasses was accompanied by the application of mineral fertilizers. Observations over changes in the vegetation communities

Abstract Application of a set of electrical methods used in geophysics—direct current resistance and induced polarization—for the purposes of mapping soil heterogeneity is considered. In the field, we measured the parameters of specific electrical resistance (SER) and induced polarization (IP) of shungite soils of the Zaonezhskii Peninsula (Republic of Karelia) using the A–M–N–B electrode installation

Abstract Light loamy ordinary chernozems buried under two kurgans of a large Early Medieval necropolis Srostki-1 constructed in 890 ± 105…975 ± 85 AD (calibration by 1δ) were compared with the chernozem of the background territory in Biysk district of Altai. The analysis of pedological and 20 geochemical indices characterizing weathering, biological activity, and salt leaching demonstrated that the

Abstract The effect of the endocrine disruptor nonylphenol on the biological activity of loamy soddy-podzolic soil (Eutric Albic Retisol (Abruptic, Loamic, Aric, Ochric)) was studied in model experiments. The upper horizons of loamy soddy-podzolic soil sampled in Leningrad oblast were the object of this study. The number of soil microorganisms, the activity of soil enzymes, and soil respiration were

Abstract Increasing demographic pressure in the area around the Mounts Kupe and Manengouba (Cameroon) is leading to increased agricultural activities with potential heavy metal pollution problems. Concentrations of twelve trace elements (TEs) in five Andosols and one Cambisol developed on tephra of ages varying from 6.61 ± 0.17 to 0.01 ± 0.12 Ma of the mounts mentioned above were determined and their

Abstract In this study, we developed a general mathematical relationship to determine hydraulic tortuosity. An optimization code was run in MATLAB R2014a software, using Monte Carlo algorithm, to determine tortuosity at different water contents for 69 soil samples of UNSODA. Considering fractal concepts, a linear equation was developed empirically to determine hydraulic tortuosity as a function of

Abstract Regressive development is widespread in peatlands of the northern hemisphere; a new type of peatlands—regressive bogs—should be introduced in addition to the traditional peatland types, such as eutrophic, mesotrophic, and oligotrophic peatlands. Diagnostic features and classification of soils typical of regressive bogs have already been discussed in relevant scientific literature. However

Abstract— Soil formation on the human time scale is immensely time consuming, although it can be significantly accelerated through the effects of vegetation. The content of water-stable aggregates (WSAs) is a useful indicator for determining both the soil development level and the soil quality. However, in severely degraded soils, especially in the Baltic pedoclimatic region, the effects of vegetation

Abstract Soil microbial communities are subjected to significant changes over time. The most rapid changes caused by temperature and soil moisture alternations or the by the inflow of fresh organic matter occur during the several hours or days. They are mostly related to the soil microbial activity. Seasonal dynamics are caused by annual variations in temperature and precipitation that affect the microbial

Abstract Feeding of the escalating population has subjected today’s agriculture to massive farming that has shattered soil structure, organic carbon and fertility. The vulnerability of applied organics to high temperature make them inappropriate under such circumstances. The help of indigenous exopolysaccharides (EPS) secreting microflora (Pre-isolated (M2, M3, M11, M16, M19 and M22)) was taken in

Abstract The vertical zonality of the soil cover of the Verkhoyansk mountainous soil province is discussed. The soils of the landscape-ecological profile in the area of the Arkachan Plateau (65° N, 130° E) have been studied. Their morphogenetic characteristics and position in the new Russian soil classification system are analyzed. The absolute height of the mountains reaches 1200 m, the relative height

Abstract Data on air and soil temperatures at the Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon weather stations in the East Siberian permafrost-taiga region are analyzed. The soils are represented by permafrost-affected sandy podzolized podbur (Verkhoyansk) and loamy soddy soil (Oymyakon). Recent decades have been the period of steady warming; average annual air temperature in 2001–2010 exceeded the climatological normal

Abstract The impact of three types of pesticides (herbicide metribuzin, insecticide imidacloprid, and fungicide benomyl) on the structure of microbial complexes and indicators of biological activity of agrosoddy-podzolic soil (Moscow oblast) has been assessed using the method of next-generation sequencing (NGS). The pesticides have been applied both separately and together at one- and tenfold rates

Abstract Soil is one of the most important natural resources that should be studied and characterized to provide decision-makers with sufficient information for reconstruction plans after the current war. The objective of this study is to describe the main soil orders in Syria and give an overview of their properties. Therefore, more than 150 soil profiles have been described. Soil samples were analyzed

Abstract The effect of long-term (about 25 years) use of different farming practices on a set of soil properties and development of erosion in Lower Austria has been studied. Three tillage systems—zero, or no-till (NT); minimum, or conservation (CS); and conventional (CV)—are compared. The comparison demonstrates that the properties of Typic Argiudols (Luvic Phaeozems), formed on steep (13.2%) slopes

Abstract Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and phase analysis light scattering (PALS) have been used to study the physical and chemical characteristics of organo-clay complexes of soddy-podzolic soils (Albic Retisols (Loamic, Cutanic, Differentic, Ochric)) of forest sites of the Central Forest Reserve. The study of the chronosequence of abandoned agricultural soils afforested for 100 years showed that

Abstract The biomass of prokaryotes and fungi, organic carbon stocks, and CO2 emission were studied in the Cryosols and Leptosols of Franz Josef Land. The highest carbon stocks were found in the Eutric Leptosols (Loamic, Humic) formed in the wind-sheltered areas (23.2 kg C/m2 in the upper 50 cm), as well as in Turbic Cryosols (Humiс) that contained organic matter buried by cryoturbation (13.7–20.7

Abstract Bacteria play a crucial role in regulating biogeochemical cycles in peatlands. Most of the studies on soil bacteria focus mainly on the peat surface and bacteria that exist in the deeper peat layers are still poorly known in tropical areas. This study was conducted to examine bacterial abundances along the peat depths in peat forest ecosystems (peat swamp forest (PSF) and logged-over secondary

Abstract A review of publications on soils of botanical gardens forming in different landscape conditions and approaches to their classification is presented. Transformation of the soil profiles—the appearance of new horizons and features, acceleration or deceleration of pedogenetic processes, and, under conditions of intensive soil formation, relatively rapid disappearance of anthropogenic features—are

Abstract— Collected in situ rhizoliths (>20) from Devonian and Early Carboniferous paleosols in the southern part of the Russian Platform (Kaluga, Belgorod, and Voronezh oblasts) were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, XRF and mass spectrometry. In Devonian paleosols developed from volcanic–sedimentary deposits, rhizoliths are represented by petrified individual roots

Abstract Many factors including land use, management history, soil series, climate, and soil landscape processes affect the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC). The primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of land use change from timberland to cropland on erosion and the SOC storage on sloping landscapes of northwestern Illinois, USA. Typic Hapludalfs and Aquic Udifluvents were

Abstract Carbon isotope ratios in soil organic matter are often used in paleoecological research for reconstructing climate and plant communities (type of photosynthesis). The difficulties in interpreting isotopic data are related to the integral effect of several factors controlling the 13C/12C ratio in plants and soils, namely, the environmental conditions and the composition of soil organic matter

Abstract Secondary saline alluvial soils formed under conditions of the taiga-forest zone within the Verkhnekamsk salt deposit have been studied. The results of this study indicate that continuous soil salinization is caused by mineralized water filtering from the stored waste products of potash production. The influence of surface and ground waters of chloride–sodium and potassium–sodium composition

Abstract The distribution of total organic matter (Corg), particulate organic matter (CPOM), and potentially mineralizable organic matter (C0) in mega- (10–5 and 5–2 mm), macro- (2–0.25 mm), and microaggregates (<0.25 mm) isolated by dry sieving from gray and agrogray soils (Luvic Retic Greyzemic Phaeozems) of different land uses was studied. In the soils under forest and meadow, the highest Corg content

Abstract Maps of soil salinity and toxic alkalinity in 2017–2018 were developed for the Chervlenoe irrigation massive of Svetloyarsk irrigation system. These maps were compared with the maps of soils in the virgin state and under irrigation in 1992 and 2006. The massive is located close to the Volga–Don Canal on the northern slopes of the Ergeni Upland (Volgograd oblast). Before irrigation, the soil

Abstract Digital medium-scale (1 : 100 000) soil map of the Southern Coast from the Aia Cape on the west to the town of Feodosiya on the east was compiled on the basis of field data obtained by the authors. This map contains actual information on the soil cover of natural, humanly transformed landscapes, and urbanized territories. The map was created using GIS and remote sensing methods (multispectral