Andrzej Lachacz

• Prof. dr.
• Professor at University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

The Soil Science Society of Poland has selected organic soils (in Polish: gleby organiczne) as their Soil of the Year 2024. Organic soils consist of materials that contain ≥12% organic carbon (C), and include peat, gyttja and mud materials, as well as forest (leaf and woody debris) or meadow (grass debris) litter (≥20% organic C if saturated with w...

Peatlands play an essential role in the environment and their conservation requires knowledge of water-related processes. Their hydrophobicity is an important factor influencing the flow of water in soils. Drainage of fens and adapting them for agricultural production have contributed to the degradation of peat soils. The main goal of this study wa...

Purpose The aim of the study was to determine the usefulness of the Munsell colour indices for identification of drained soils with various content of organic matter, developed on the sandy substrate. Methods The analysed soils, according to the Polish Soil Classification (PSC 2019), belong to thin murshic soils (WRB 2022: Murshic Histosols/Histic...

Organic soils that had been drained in order to obtain fertile agricultural land underwent changes leading to the formation of mursh (also known as moorsh). The mursh-forming process is a generic soil process that occurs in drained (artificially or naturally) organic soils, and leads to the changes in soil morphology, soil physical properties (incl...

The aim of the study was to analyse the moisture content (θ) and the persistence and strength of water repellency (SWR) on sandy soil excluded from cultivation and then undergoing spontaneous afforestation or weed infestation during an abnormally warm period. Three site plots in close proximity were selected, i.e., Scots pine forest—S1 (Dicrano-Pin...

The size of peat subsidence at Solec peatland (Poland) over 50 years was determined. The field values for subsidence and mineralization were compared with estimates using 20 equations. The subsidence values derived from equations and field measurements were compared to rank the equations. The equations that include a temporal factor (time) were use...

Professor Hjalmar Uggla

Profesor Hjalmar Uggla

Forest roads play a crucial role in commercial forestry. Most of them are unpaved and exposed to increased surface runoff and the occurrence of soil erosion. Therefore, these roads constantly require repairs and maintenance, which are associated with the high cost of earthworks. Soil water repellency causes retardation of water infiltration into so...

Celem pracy jest przedstawienie korelacji pomiędzy typami gleb wyróżnionymi w Systematyce gleb Polski wydanie 6. (SGP6 2019) i klasyfikacji bonitacyjnej. Porównania przeprowadzono dla dwóch kategorii użytków: gruntów ornych oraz łąk trwałych i pastwisk trwałych. Mapy bonitacyjne stanowią w naszym kraju jedne z najstarszych opracowań gleboznawczych...

The sixth edition of the Polish Soil Classification (SGP6) aims to maintain soil classification in Poland as a modern scientific system that reflects current scientific knowledge, understanding of soil functions and the practical requirements of society. SGP6 continues the tradition of previous editions elaborated upon by the Soil Science Society o...

The 6th edition of the Polish Soil Classification (SGP6) published in 2019. It aims to maintain soil classification in Poland as a modern scientific system that reflects current scientific knowledge, international trends and practical needs. SGP6 continues the leading idea of the previous editions – to join the traditional genetical approach and mo...

Soils in two river valleys (Rozoga and Omulew) in north-eastern Poland were investigated. The valleys are located on a sandy outwash plain formed during the Vistulian (Weichelian) Glaciation. The soils are drained, used as meadows and classified as Fluvic Umbric Gleysol, Fluvic Mollic Gleysol, and Eutric Fluvic Histic Gleysol (IUSS Working Group WR...

The goal of the study was to assess the levels of plant available nutrients in the soils of the Antarctic oasis of Point Thomas in the vicinity of Polish Antarctic Station H. Arctowski. Antarctic soils are undergoing transformations in the era of climatic changes and it is important to quantify changes in soil properties and determine the relations...

Soil water repellency (i.e. hydrophobicity, SWR) is a common soil phenomenon inhibiting water infiltration and water movement in the soil. SWR has significant hydrological implications for enhanced overland and preferential water flows and erosion. Several methods are used to determine the degree of SWR. The methods are typically chosen based on th...

This paper presents the physicochemical properties of soil and functional characteristics of sward on a grass runway of the airport in Gryźliny near Olsztyn (NE Poland). Soil samples for physicochemical analyses were collected from the surface layer (5-15 cm), and the overwintering success, density, color, and overall quality of the sward at 12 sit...

The paper deals with the effect of organic amendments three years after their application on the transformation of organic matter in sandy soil. The labile part of organic carbon has been sug­gested as a sensitive indicator of changes in soil organic matter. Our study was based on quan­tification of the hot water-extractable carbon fraction and its...

Soils with high content of particles φ ≤ 0.02 mm usually have nonfavourable physical and mechanical properties. In order to determine the impact of biological agents on properties of heavy-textured soils in organic farming systems, in the years of 2007–2009 an on-farm scale field experiment was carried out in Budziszewo, Pomeranian province in Pola...

Soil permeability is the measure of the soil’s ability to permit water to flow through soil pores. It depends chiefly on the volume and geometry of soil pores, bulk density, and soil structure. Studied soils were overgrown with short-rotation plantations of Salix and amended with sewage sludge in Germany, Estonia, and Poland. Sewage sludge applicat...

Słowa kluczowe: delimitacja mokradeł, ekosystemy ziemnowodne, terminologia S t r e s z c z e n i e W ciągu ostatnich kilkunastu lat mokradło stało się ważnym przedmiotem dyskusji na temat ochrony przyrody i środowiska. Pojęcie to ma szeroki zakres znaczeniowy. Za mokradło powszechnie uważa się obszar, który jednocześnie spełnia trzy kryteria: ma uw...

Hot and cold water-extractable organic carbon (HWC and CWC, respectively) fractions, as good indicators of organic matter quality, as well as water repellency (WDPT test) and state of secondary humification were analyzed in topsoil samples of peatland drained for agricultural purposes 160 years ago. The examined sites (drained and used as grassland...

Soil permeability is the measure of the soil’s ability to permit water to flow through soil pores. It depends chiefly on the volume and geometry of soil pores, bulk density, and soil structure. Studied soils were overgrown with short-rotation plantations of Salix and amended with sewage sludge in Germany, Estonia, and Poland. Sewage sludge applicat...

Post-peat water bodies formed as a result of peat digging for fuel in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century are common in the middle part of Dobrzyńskie Lakeland. In many cases peat was dug almost completely to form small water bodies. In the studied part of the lakeland 56.24 ha or 10.20% of peatland area have been exploited. The share o...

Labile fractions of organic matter can rapidly respond to changes in soil and they have been suggested as sensitive indicators of soil organic matter. Two labile fractions of organic carbon in the soils amended with fresh municipal sewage sludge in two rates (equivalent of 60 kg P ha -1 and 120 kg P ha -1) were studied. Soils under studies were ove...

The objective of this study was to estimate the water repellency of post-boggy soils in north-eastern Poland. Potential water repellency was determined based on the water drop penetration time (WDPT) test and the molarity of an ethanol droplet (MED) test. A total of 276 soil samples with a varied organic carbon (OC) content, ranging from trace amou...

Central part of Dobrzyńskie Lakeland is an area of intensive transformation of wetlands by settlement and agriculture. The basic measure leading to the elimination of wetlands was drainage by ditches. Thanks to well-preserved cartographic materials in detailed scales, the process of wetland transformation and the network of draining ditches can be...

Labile carbon is the fraction of soil organic carbon with most rapid turnover rate. Physical and chemical fractionation methods for estimating soil labile organic carbon provide quantitative data. For the study we selected some organic formations of drained soils (mucks and gyttjas) located in north-eastern Poland and carried out four extraction pr...

The paper presents changes in the organic matter of the arable layer (0-25 cm) of soil from crop rotations under the conventional and the ecological farming system. Organic matter quality was estimated based on the chemical fractionation of humus compounds. The susceptibility to oxidation of soil organic matter with potassium permanganate (KMnO 4)...

In drained Histosols used as pastures or arable fields the muck-forming process transforms organic soil formations into muck. The rush vegetation (Caricetum acutiformis and Glycerietum maximae) covering Histosols in the organic matter accumulation stage is replaced by meadow vegetation (Molinietalia order). During sustained drainage mucks are trans...

Soil organic matter is crucial in almost every ecosystem. Soil organic matter of specifi c limnic organic formations, called gyttja deposits, was examined. Prolonged aeration and microbial activity led to soil transformation called muck-forming process and development of new soils, termed gyttja-muck soils. The study was carried out in Masurian Lak...

Pamięci profesora Hjalmara Uggli W dniu 23 czerwca br. w Katedrze Gleboznawstwa i Ochrony Gleb Uniwersytetu Warmińsko− −Mazurskiego w Olsztynie odsłonięta została tablica upamiętniająca prof. Hjalmara Ugglę (1908− −1983) – wybitnego uczonego, Sprawiedliwego wśród Narodów Świata, Szweda z pochodzenia i Polaka z wyboru.

The paper presents results of wetting angle measurements in the liquids (water, formamide and ethylene glycol) and solid phase of detritus gyttja soils using the sessile drop technique. Measurements were performed using KSV CAM 100 - compact wetting angle meter. The initial value o f the water contact angle ranged within 144-150°. The value of the...

Mud soils have developed in small depressions on the river floodplains of north-eastern Poland, these mud deposits being shallow, up to 50 cm, and have a 37-53% organic matter content. After drainage, they undergo a muck-forming process, the soil formations of dewatered sites not being abundant in nutrients or base compounds due to leaching connect...

Gyttja is a freshwater deposit (mud) consisting of organic and mineral matter found at the bottom or near the shores of lakes. The term was originally defined by the Swedish scientist Hampus von Post in 1862, as a light-colored coprogenic deposit consisting of a mixture of plankton particles, mollusk shells, chitin remains from the exoskeletons of...

The content of phosphorus, aluminium, and iron compounds soluble in an HCl solution and in ammonium oxalate varies widely in different horizons of the investigated gley-podzol soils. Phosphorus compounds accumulate in the surface organic and humus horizons, but they are also found in large quantities in the alluvial and gley horizons. The content o...

In recent years the term "wetlands" has become an important concept in discussions about environmental protection and nature conservation. This term has a wide meaning. Wetlands are commonly defined as areas fulfilling three criteria: developed on hydrated substrate (soil), characterized by water excess (wetland hydrology), inhabited by the living...

W ciągu ostatnich kilkunastu lat mokradło stało się ważnym przedmiotem dyskusji na temat ochrony przyrody i środowiska. Pojęcie to ma szeroki zakres znaczeniowy. Za mokradło powszechnie uważa się obszar, który jednocześnie spełnia trzy kryteria: ma uwodniony substrat (glebę), cechuje go nadmiar wody (warunki hydrologiczne) oraz występują na nim org...

The area of Kurpie Plain features mucuous soils (sandy humous soils) containing from 3 to 10% of organic matter in the humus (top) layer. These soils developed from loose sands of fluvio-glacial origin. The morphology of these soils indicates the prior processes of podsolization and gleyization. The proflle distribution of those elements soluble in...

The results of an inventory and evaluation of wetlands of north-eastern Poland carried out are presented in the paper. A description of the occurrence, utilisation, vegetation and protection of wetlands was produced. The main results of project are: a wetland map of Poland in the scale of 1: 100 000, a database of wetlands and new proposals designe...

Soils situated near the Olsztyn – Warsaw road were analysed to assess the effects of traffic on soil properties. The heavy metals content was determined by the AAS technique after hot digestion in concentrated acids of HNO3 and HClO4, and in 1 M HCl (soluble forms). The soils sampled from the 5 m belt closest to the road have sorption properties mo...

The muck-forming process occurring in drained grassland peat soils resulted in a decrease in the cation exchange capacity and the total content of basic cations in the muck layers in comparison with the underlying peat layers underneath. The process of decalcification, involving the leaching of basic cations, mainly calcium and magnesium, occurs in...

The water holding capacity of organic soils from the Mazury-Kurpie outwash plain was investigated. The moorsh-forming process led to significant decreases in the available water content (AWC) in the moorsh horizons. Mean AWC was 36.1% vol. in moorsh formations and 46.8% vol. in underlying peats.

Rozprawa habilitacyjna. Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski, Olsztyn, 2001. Bibliogr. s. 111-117.