Vol 49, No 7 (2016)

Special approaches and algorithms for studying the response of zonal soils and the soil cover of the forest-steppe zone to climate fluctuations were developed on the basis of data of repeated soil surveys. They made it possible to analyze the particular transformations of the soil cover as indicators of short-term climate fluctuations in the southern forest-steppe of the Central Russian Upland. Vector soil maps and related databases on soil polygons were developed using GIS technologies. Changes in the climatic conditions between two rounds of large-scale soil surveys in 1971 and 1991 reflecting the so-called Brückner cycles were identified. A characteristic feature of climate change during that period was the rise in the mean annual air temperature by 0.2°C and an increase in the mean annual precipitation by 83 mm. In response to this change, the area of leached chernozems (Luvic Chernozems) on the interfluves somewhat increased, whereas the area of typical chernozems (Haplic Chernozems) decreased.

The analysis of 34 cloudless fragments of Landsat 5, 7, and 8 images (1985–2014) on the territory of Plavsk, Arsen’evsk, and Chern districts of Tula oblast has been performed. It is shown that bare soil surface on the RED–NIR plots derived from the images cannot be described in the form of a sector of spectral plane as it can be done for the NDVI values. The notion of spectral neighborhood of soil line (SNSL) is suggested. It is defined as the sum of points of the RED–NIR spectral space, which are characterized by spectral characteristics of the bare soil applied for constructing soil lines. The way of the SNSL separation along the line of the lowest concentration density of points on the RED–NIR spectral space is suggested. This line separates bare soil surface from vegetating plants. The SNSL has been applied to construct soil line (SL) for each of the 34 images and to delineate bare soil surface on them. Distances from the points with averaged RED–NIR coordinates to the SL have been calculated using the method of moving window. These distances can be referred to as averaged spectral deviations (ASDs). The calculations have been performed strictly for the SNSL areas. As a result, 34 maps of ASDs have been created. These maps contain ASD values for 6036 points of a grid used in the study. Then, the integral map of normalized ASD values has been built with due account for the number of points participating in the calculation (i.e., lying in the SNSL) within the moving window. The integral map of ASD values has been compared with four traditional soil maps on the studied territory. It is shown that this integral map can be interpreted in terms of soil taxa: the areas of seven soil subtypes (soddy moderately podzolic, soddy slightly podzolic, light gray forest. gray forest, dark gray forest, podzolized chernozems, and leached chernozems) belonging to three soil types (soddy-podzolic, gray forest, and chernozemic soils) can be delineated on it.

The transformation of organic nitrogen compounds in the soils of tundra ecosystems of Northern Fennoscandia has been studied under laboratory and natural conditions. Tundra soils contain significant reserves of total nitrogen, but they are poor in its extractable mineral and organic forms. The potential rates of the net mineralization and net immobilization of nitrogen by microorganisms vary among the soils and depend on the C: N ratio in the extractable organic matter and microbial biomass of soil. Under natural conditions, the rate of nitrogen net mineralization is lower than the potential rate determined under laboratory conditions by 6–25 times. The incubation of tundra soils in the presence of plants does not result in the accumulation of mineral nitrogen compounds either in the soil or in microbial biomass. This confirms the high competitive capacity of plants under conditions of limited nitrogen availability in tundra ecosystems.

The hydrologic regimes of arable chernozems were simulated for two plots located within a watershed. For the last fifty years continuous corn monoculture was practiced in one plot, and permanent bare fallow was practiced in the other plot. Carbonates are detected from a depth of 140–160 cm under corn and from 70–80 cm under bare fallow. The objective of the simulation study was to test the validity of the hypothesis that the shallower depth to carbonates under bare fallow is related to carbonate rise due to changes in the hydrologic regime of bare soil compared to soil under vegetation. Mathematical modeling using the HYDRUS-1D software and the FAO56 method confirmed that the hydrologic regimes of arable chernozems within the two plots are different. The soil water content under bare fallow is generally higher than that under corn. The downward soil water fluxes for the two plots are comparable. The upward soil water fluxes under bare fallow significantly exceed those under corn and affect a thicker soil layer. The changes in the hydrologic regimes of chernozems under bare fallow favor the upward movement of carbonates through both the direct transfer by upward water fluxes and the diffusion of ions.

The dynamics of respiratory and enzyme activities and toxicological properties of loamy-sandy and loamy soddy-podzolic soils (Retisols) under the long-term influence of oil pollution were studied. The concentrations of the pollutant, at which the activity (the ability of self-purification) of the indigenous soil microflora is preserved, were determined. The dynamics of the decrease of oil product content and the time of elimination of the toxic effects on higher plants at the initial pollutant contents were revealed. The parameters of the respiratory and enzyme activities in the course of the 365-day experiment showed that the microbial community of the loamy-sandy soil was more sensitive to oil pollution. The phytotoxic characteristics of the oil-containing loamy-sandy and loamy soils did not correlate with their respiratory and enzyme activities. This fact testifies to some differences in the mechanisms of their influence on living organisms with different organizational levels and to the necessity of taking into account a complex of parameters when assessing the state of the soils under the long-term effects of oil and its products.

Ferrihydrite—an ephemeral mineral—is the most active Fe-hydroxide in soils. According to modern data, the ferrihydrite structure contains tetrahedral lattice in addition to the main octahedral lattice, with 10–20% of Fe being concentrated in the former. The presence of Fe tetrahedrons influences the surface properties of this mineral. The chemical composition of ferrihydrite samples depends largely on the size of lattice domains ranging from 2 to 6 nm. Chemically pure ferrihydrite rarely occurs in the soil; it usually contains oxyanion (SiO1₄^4-, PO₄^3-) and cation (Al³⁺) admixtures. Aluminum replace Fe³⁺ in the structure with a decrease in the mineral particle size. Oxyanions slow down polymerization of Fe³⁺ aquahydroxomonomers due to the films at the surface of mineral nanoparticles. Si- and Al-ferrihydrites are more resistant to the reductive dissolution than the chemically pure ferrihydrite. In addition, natural ferrihydrite contains organic substance that decreases the grain size of the mineral. External organic ligands favor ferrihydrite dissolution. In the European part of Russia, ferrihydrite is more widespread in the forest soils than in the steppe soils. Poorly crystallized nanoparticles of ferrihydrite adsorb different cations (Zn, Cu) and anions (phosphate, uranyl, arsenate) to immobilize them in soils; therefore, ferrihydrite nanoparticles play a significant role in the biogeochemical cycle of iron and other elements.

Changes in the contents of total organic carbon and the carbon of easily mineralizable fractions of organic matter (labile humus, detritus, and mortmass) in the layers of 0–10, 10–25, and 0–25 cm were studied in leached chernozems ((Luvic Chernozems (Loamic, Aric)) subjected to deep plowing and surface tillage for nine years. In the layer of 0–25 cm, the content of Corg did not show significant difference between these two treatments and comprised 3.68–3.92% in the case of deep plowing and 3.63–4.08% in the case of surface tillage. Tillage practices greatly affected the distribution of easily mineralizable fractions of organic matter in the layers of 0–10 and 10–25 cm, though the difference between two treatments for the entire layer (0–25 cm) was insignificant. Surface tillage resulted in the increase in the contents of mortmass (by 59%), detritus (by 32%), and labile humus (by 8%) in the layer of 0–10 cm in comparison with deep plowing. At the same time, the contents of these fractions in the layer of 10–25 cm in the surface tillage treatment decreased by 67, 46, and 3%, respectively. The estimate of the nitrogen-mineralizing capacity made according to the data on the uptake of soil nitrogen by oat plants in a special greenhouse experiment confirmed the observed regularities of the redistribution of easily mineralizable organic matter fractions by the soil layers. In case of surface tillage, it increased by 23% in the layer of 0–10 cm; for the layer of 0–25 cm, no significant differences in the uptake of nitrogen by oat plants were found for the two studied treatments.