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Soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration in the forest and arable soils. Central squares indicate mean values, boxes -standard errors, whiskers -standard deviation, letters a, b -homogeneous groups of means by post-hoc NIR Fisher test.
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Water erosion, accelerated in sloped landscapes by intense cultivation (ploughing), can rapidly degrade humus-rich topsoil horizons of chernozemic soils, leading to an irreversible loss of the most valuable soil resources, in particular in areas with relict Chernozems/Phaeozems. An afforestation can effectively control erosion rates, but dense cano...
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... SOC concentration was typically highest in the topsoil layers and decreased significantly with depth in the soil profiles, more clearly in the forest than in arable soils (Fig. 7). Only the topsoil A horizons differed significantly in SOC concentration between forest (higher SOC) and arable soils (lower SOC), while the differences in the subsoil layers were negligible. Taking into account the content of SOC, the thickness and the bulk density of the particular layers, the mean SOC pools were noticeably higher in ...
Context 2
... the finer aggregate structure and lower bulk density may be connected with an increased SOC content in the uppermost topsoil layers (Fig. 7), commonly reported after afforestation of arable soils (Foote and Grogan, 2010;Novák et al., 2014Novák et al., , 2020Spohn et al., 2016;Chodorowski et al., 2019;Strouhalowa et al., 2020). However, the SOC content did not differ significantly in the subsoil layers of the forest and adjacent arable soils under study, while the A horizons ...
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... Furthermore, the largest soil database in Poland recognises 'total sorption capacity' as the only measure of soil cation exchange capacity (Bieganowski et al., 2013). Therefore, in Poland, the 'total sorption capacity' has been commonly considered a substitute for CEC (Gruba and Mulder, 2015;Labaz et al., 2022), even if its equivalence has been confirmed for a very limited variety of soils and on a small scale (Jaremko and Kalembasa, 2014). Consequently, the suggested correlations between local and international classifications (Kabala et al., , 2019a still must be considered provisional unless the complementarity or relationships between 'standard' CEC and 'total sorption capacity', and respectively calculated base saturations, are tested. ...
... and the Legend of the Soil Map of the WorldFAO-Unesco, 1974) has resulted in the use of the terms Mollisols as well as Phaeozems and Kastanozems.Some recent studies showed that Mollisols were not exclusively formed under steppe or grassland plants but also in forested areas. The genesis of Mollisols associated with low-density open-canopy foreststeppe or meadow-forest formations reach back to the Early Holocene or even the Late Pleistocene(Andreeva et al., 2011; Vysloužilová et al. 2014 Vysloužilová et al. , 2015Labaz et al., 2018Labaz et al., ,2022aKabała et al., 2019). Their persistence until the present is undoubtedly related to more continental climate of southern Central Europe (in particular in the Pannonian Lowland). ...
... Strouhalova et al. (2019) as a result of a paleoecological study of 23 chernozem sites in Central Europe found that most of the studied chernozems have a meadow past, but some of them also existed under forest. Labaz et al. (2022) found chernozems in the moderately humid climate of southeastern Poland under mixed broad-leaved forests. Kobza & Pálka (2022) note that in Slovakia, soils with characteristics characteristic of chernozems are found not only in steppe conditions, but also under forest vegetation. ...
Modern processes of climate change are accompanied by a number of negative factors, which include aridization, desertification, soil degradation and erosion. The research was were carried out on the territory that is the southern border of the distribution of the late glacial phase of the Dnieper glaciation (Middle Pleistocene, 100–230 thousand years ago). The influence of forest ecosystems on the aggregate composition and water stability of soil aggregates, the features of which determine the protection of soils from erosion and other degradation processes in semiarid conditions, was assessed. It has been established that luvic chernozems of forest ecosystems are characterized by an increased content of aggregates of fractions 2–3, 1–2 and 0.5–1.0 mm, as well as water-stable aggregates of fractions > 5, 0.5–1.0 and 0.25–0.5 mm in the 0–20 cm layer compared to ordinary chernozems of steppe ecosystems. The content of soil organic matter is a determining factor on which the aggregate composition and content of water-stable aggregates in luvic chernozems of forest ecosystems depends. The existence of close direct relationships has been established between the content of soil organic matter and the content of aggregates of the 0.5–1.0 mm fraction, as well as between the content of soil organic matter and the content of water-stable aggregates of fractions 3–5, 2–3 and 1–2 mm in chernozems of steppe and forest ecosystems. The existence of close direct relationships between the sand content and the content of water-stable aggregates of fractions 3–5 and 2–3 mm was revealed. The established increase in the content of soil organic matter and sand in luvic chernozems of forest ecosystems compared to ordinary chernozems of steppe ecosystems is the reason for the improvement in the aggregate composition and the increase in the content of water-stable aggregates. This is a key aspect of increasing the resistance of soils in forest ecosystems to various negative factors, such as desertification, degradation, wind and water soil erosion.
... It is also possible that despite longer-term stabilisation, suitable conditions for clay illuviation have not been created, e.g. due to deforestation and intensified land use, hindering the formation of Luvisols (Labaz et al., 2022;Strouhalová et al., 2020). Note also the trend in the proportions of the different phyllosilicates. ...
... However, these soils exist on different bedrocks and under different moisture conditions, which indicates the formation of chernozems not only in pronounced steppe conditions under zonal vegetation. Labaz et al. (2022) note that even in a moderate humid climate, as in Southeastern Poland, mixed broad-leaved forests, consisting of tree species that acidify the soil, cannot quickly destroy black soils. The results of physicochemical and morphological transformations are weaker than soil destruction due to water erosion and justify controlled afforestation of relict chernozems and phaeozems as a means of preserving them from rapid destruction. ...
Targeted changes in the physical properties of soils, including through afforestation, are an important component of land use practices that are aimed at obtaining sustainable crop yields, which is especially important for potentially highly fertile chernozem soils. The physical properties of ordinary chernozems under steppe vegetation (used as a control) and plantings of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Quercus robur L., as well as chernozem luvosol under natural forest vegetation, were studied in the field, as well as in laboratory conditions using soil samples taken from 12 areas established within Dnipropetrovsk region (Ukraine). As a result of the study, it was established that the studied ordinary chernozems and luvic chernozems are classified as silty loam according to their granulometric composition. The growth of acacia and oak plantations led to an increase in sand content and a decrease in silt content, and the growth of natural forest vegetation contributed to an increase in sand and silt content and a decrease in clay content in black soils. The influence of forest vegetation on chernozems led in the 0–20 cm layer to an increase in the content of aggregates of fractions > 2 mm and water-resistant aggregates of fractions > 0.5 mm and a decrease in the content of aggregates of fractions < 1 mm and water-resistant aggregates of fractions < 0.5 mm compared to chernozems under steppe vegetation. The growth of forest vegetation caused a decrease in the density and density of the solid phase, and an increase in the total porosity of chernozems in the layers of 0–20 and 20–40 cm. The influence of forest vegetation on ordinary chernozems and luvic chernozems contributed to an increase in the content of available water for plants and an increase in their water permeability compared to ordinary chernozems under steppe vegetation. Ordinary chernozems under acacia and oak plantations are characterized by increased electrical resistivity, and luvic chernozems under natural forest vegetation are characterized by reduced electrical resistivity compared to ordinary chernozems under steppe vegetation. The growth of forest vegetation contributed to a decrease in the dielectric constant of chernozems. The influence of natural forest vegetation leads to more pronounced changes in the physical properties of chernozems compared to the influence of acacia and oak plantings.
... Calcic Chernozem occupies the largest area within the steppe zone of Ukraine. Similar to many other soils worldwide, this soil type exhibits various degradation processes (Labaz et al., 2022). The main causes of soil degradation are anthropogenic impact and global climate change (Roy et al., 2022). ...
The results of a comprehensive study on the particle size distribution, soil organic matter (SOM) content, and plant-available water in Calcic Chernozem are presented, along with the impact of Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Quercus robur L. plantations on these indicators. The study revealed that Calcic Chernozem under steppe vegetation and Q. robur plantation exhibited a silty clay loam texture. However, under the influence of R. pseudoacacia plantation, the chernozem’s texture transformed into loam. The planting of R. pseudoacacia resulted in a noticeable decrease in SOM content, while the growth of Q. robur plantations led to an increase in SOM content. Furthermore, both R. pseudoacacia and Q. robur plantations contributed to an increased content of plant-available water in the 0–20 cm layer of chernozem. These findings highlight the more pronounced effect of R. pseudoacacia plantation on the particle size distribution, SOM content, and plant-available water in Calcic Chernozem compared to Q. robur plantation.
... In the Chernozem profile (B3) at the BR plot, the removal is not manifested in the colour and structure of the chernic horizon, but more likely in its below average thickness (only 40 cm). Similar profiles of Chernozems, where only their depth, not their properties, was indicative of erosion removal, have been described extensively, e.g. in Labaz et al. (2022). ...
Colluvisols represent a significant part of the erosional catena in undulating landscapes, often changed by long-term agricultural management. The present study provides a detailed description of the stratigraphy, properties and development of colluvial profiles in two geologically, climatically and historically different areas of Czechia, situated in the loess region of South Moravia and Central Bohemian Upland, built on plutonic rocks. For the first time in Czechia, colluvial profiles were dated and interpreted in terms of the history of human impact on the landscape and Holocene climatic fluctuations. Four profiles were excavated in the toe-slope and side valley areas. A multidisciplinary approach combining absolute dating by optically stimulated luminescence, assessing ¹³⁷Cs activity and micromorphological, mineralogical and geochemical analysis was applied to identify the period and mode of deposition of each layer. In both areas, a predominantly rapid, event-based sedimentation with thick recently deposited layers was identified in the toe-slopes, while the side-valleys are characterized by gradual, slower and older sedimentation. Peaks of erosion activity at both plots were distinguished in the High and Late Middle Ages and the recent period since 1950. In both periods, significant changes in anthropogenic pressure on the landscape, whether due to increased population density or agricultural intensification, were identified as the main trigger. Nevertheless, significant associations were also found with climatic events in the periods in question. In both areas, colluvial layers corresponding to the pre-Neolithic period were also found, probably exclusively associated with the influence of contemporary climate.
... Changes induced by afforestation include shifts in various important soil quality indicators, such as soil pH. Several authors referred to the prevailing acidification effect of afforestation on various soil types (Kupka, Podrázský 2010;Podrázský et al. 2011;Labaz et al. 2022;Novák 2022). In contrast to the referred higher acidifying effect of afforested soil (compared to control agricultural soil), the results of this experiment showed no significantly diverse impacts of the planted tree species and field variants on pH H 2 O . ...
Afforestation is important for the EU forest management strategy. Afforestation of abandoned and marginal arable land is a favourable non-agricultural land use option for climate change mitigation. It may prevent threats of drought or erosion e.g. by affecting the water balance in soil via increased structural stability. The structural stability control in afforested soil is related to i.a. organic matter content, nutrient content, soil reaction, planted tree species prosperity, and amelioration. A four-year field small-plot experiment on afforestation was carried out with Chernozem covered with deciduous (oak), coniferous (pine) or mixed planting, amended with 3 doses (no-application, 0.5 kg×m–2, and 1.5 kg×m–2) of alginite. In 2013 and 2016, soil reaction pHH2O, mean weight diameter (MWD), organic matter content (LOI) and total organic carbon (TOC) were determined and related to the soil structural stability to evaluate the soil precondition to sustain drought twice per vegetation period (spring and autumn). Afforestation significantly improved MWD compared to the field soil between 2013 and 2016 from 1.63 ± 0.04 mm to 1.85 ± 0.05 mm. Tree planting significantly neutralized the soil pHH2O, mixed planting appeared to improve LOI and TOC. Four-year afforestation led also to higher structural stability, less alkaline pH and deciduous tree-related increase in LOI, which may indicate better soil sustainability to drought.
... The latter sandy materials have been remodelled and transported by subsequent eolian processes during the Vistulian, producing cover sands of variable thickness over broad areas (Goździk, 2007;Manikowska, 1997;Marks et al., 2016). The thin sandy cover in SW Poland forms the southern margins of the so-called European Sand Belt (Woronko et al., 2015) and adjoins the parallel loess belt (Jary and Ciszek, 2013;Labaz et al., 2022;Lehmkuhl et al., 2021;Waroszewski et al., 2021). Glacial and periglacial materials determine the large-scale zonality of soils in SW Poland. ...
Texturally bipartite and stagno-gleyed Planosols are becoming more commonly reported from the temperate climate zone. Although ferrolysis is widely accepted as the major process responsible for abrupt textural change in South American Planosols, clay illuviation or native lithogenic discontinuity is understood to be more important for texturally distinct profile differentiation in other regions of the world. Textural discontinuities, accompanied by seasonal water stagnation, are common in the (post)glacial landscapes of Central and Northern Europe, and extend the possibility for Planosol recognition, which has previously been considered atypical of this region. However, a unique combination of lithogenic, periglacial and pedological features has raised questions about the classification and genesis of these soils. In particular, an Eemian age for the illuvial clay (argic) horizon in loamy subsoils developed from pre-Vistulian ice-sheets has been hypothesised. Eight texturally bipartite soil profiles (sandy over loamy), located within the range of the older Saalian ice-sheet (Polish: Odra) were investigated from the Lower Silesia region (SW Poland). Abrupt changes in the relative contributions of particle size fractions, heavy minerals, rare-earth elements, rounded and semi-rounded sand grains, and clay minerals, as well as the presence of wind-polished periglacial pavements, accompanied by Late Pleistocene–Holocene optically stimulated luminescence ages for the cover sands, have confirmed the different lithogeneses of the topsoil and subsoil layers as the reason for the abrupt textural difference in the soil profiles. Macro- and micromorphological observations support the following model of Glossic Planosol development in SW Poland: (a) formation of illuvial soil (Luvisol type), including its argic horizon, during the Eemian; (b) truncation of profile (erosion of eluvial horizons) during the cold stages of the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by the formation of a periglacial pavement, soil cracking and the cryogenic reworking of the illuvial structures in the argic horizon (Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 4–MIS 2); and (c) soil burial with wind-transported sands (during MIS 2, remodelling in the Holocene), which formed a lithological discontinuity at the top of argic horizon. During the Holocene period, the upper argic horizon has been transformed by extending the albeluvic tonguing under a humid temperate climate. Observations from SW Poland support the hypothesis that Luvic/Glossic Planosols in the older (post)glacial landscapes are polygenetic soils, in terms of both their litho- and pedogeneses, the formation of which started in the Eemian and is still active.
... Such conditions prevail in the Eurasian Chernozem Belt, mostly situated in the territory of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Hungary, although small areas of Chernozems are also known in central and western Europe [5][6][7]. Presently, European Chernozems are mostly arable soils due to their particularly high productivity [8][9][10][11], and only minor areas of these soils are still maintained in the form of pastures or woodland, consisting mainly of oak and oak-hornbeam [12][13][14][15]. The presence of Chernozems in the temperate humid climate zone of Central Europe generates a discussion about the formation and further evolution of these soils [16]. ...
... Chernozems and Phaeozems contained on average 2.4-2.5% of SOC, while Luvisols had considerably higher SOC content with mean value of 3.8%. The findings of other authors confirm similar trends in arable and forest chernozemic soils in south-east Poland [14,47]. The pH of the buried soils fell between the pH reported for modern Luvisols and Phaeozems ( Figure 2c) and was close to topsoil pH of the modern forest soils. ...
... The signal of grasslands derived from steppe vegetation is considered as typical in case of Chernozems as a main factor of their origin [62]. Moreover, the possibility of Chernozems transformation into Phaeozems or Luvisols during Holocene period was considered by some authors [6,14,63]. The upper parts of buried soils in these profiles usually belonged to Phaeozems or had a mixed Phaeozems/Luvisol signal. ...
The discussion on the formation of Chernozems still has no consensus, and one of the outstanding questions is the type of the vegetation that supported the persistence of these soils in Central Europe over the Holocene period. The transformation of Chernozems and related soil types may be clarified by paleoenvironmental studies, which integrate different investigation techniques and proxy data. We propose a procedure based on infrared reflectance spectroscopy of soil organic matter, that presumably contains specific fingerprints from land use and plant cover. A database of spectra for 337 samples representing vegetation classes (grassland, woodland and arable) and loess soil types (Chernozem, Phaeozem, Luvisol) was created to build a mathematical model, which allows to identify the origin of buried soils with unknown history. The comparison confirmed the applicability of both near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy, with higher statistical affinity of MIR. A clear disjunction of land use/vegetation classes was proven and allowed reliable association of the samples from buried soils with grassland/woodland and episodes of arable land use, followed by prevailing forest vegetation after burial. The findings are consistent with proposed models in Poland and Czechia, and confirm the potential of spectroscopy techniques in identification of soil types and their evolution.
