Changes in the agrochemical properties of dark gray soil in the Western Ukrainian forest-steppe under the effect of long-term agricultural use

The changes in the properties of dark gray forest soil in the Ukrainian Western Forest-Steppe under the effect of long-term agricultural use in a grain-row crop rotation without fertilization and with the application of mineral and organomineral complex fertilizers have been studied. The changes in the morphological properties of the soil, the reaction of the soil solution, the total and exchangeable acidities, the total exchangeable bases, the degree of base saturation, and the content and reserve of organic carbon over a 50-year-long period of plowing have been studied using different methods. It has been found that the acidification of the upper layer was intensified and the content of organic matter and the degree of base saturation decreased during the period studied (1961–2010). The effect of the management practice on the evolution and dynamics of the soil degradation has been studied. It has been shown that the cultivation of soils without fertilization primarily resulted in a decrease in the humus content; the application of mineral fertilizers increased the acidity of the soils.