Biologically Active Organic Matter in Soils of European Russia

Experimental and literature data on the contents and stocks of active organic matter in 200 soil samples from the forest-tundra, southern-taiga, deciduous-forest, forest-steppe, dry-steppe, semidesert, and subtropical zones have been generalized. Natural lands, agrocenoses, treatments of long-term field experiments (bare fallow, unfertilized and fertilized crop rotations, perennial plantations), and different layers of soil profile are presented. Sphagnum peat and humus–peat soil in the tundra and forest-tundra zones are characterized by a very high content of active organic matter (300–600 mg C/100 g). Among the zonal soils, the content of active organic matter increases from the medium (75–150 mg C/100 g) to the high (150–300 mg C/100 g) level when going from soddy-podzolic soil to gray forest and dark-gray forest soils and then to leached chernozem. In the series from typical chernozem to ordinary and southern chernozem and chestnut and brown semidesert soils, a decrease in the content of active organic matter to the low (35–75 mg C/100 g) and very low (<35 mg C/100 g) levels is observed. Acid brown forest soil in the subtropical zone is characterized by a medium supply with active organic matter. Most arable soils are mainly characterized by low or very low contents of active organic matter. In the upper layers of soils, active organic matter makes up 1.2–11.1% of total C_org. The profile distribution of active organic matter in the studied soils coincides with that of C_org: their contents appreciably decrease with depth, except for brown semidesert soil. The stocks of active organic matter vary from 0.4 to 5.4 t/ha in the layer of 0–20 cm and from 1.0 to 12.4/ha in the layer of 0–50 cm of different soil types.     

Structure of humic acids in zonal soils from <Superscript>13</Superscript>C NMR data

The structure of humic acids (HAs) in zonal soil types—soddy-podzolic soils (two samples), gray forest soil (one sample), and chernozems (two samples)—was quantitatively studied by ¹³C NMR spectros-copy. In the series considered, the content of unsubstituted carbon in the aromatic fragments of HAs increased, and the fraction of unsubstituted aliphatic structures decreased. HAs of soddy-podzolic soils were found to be enriched with carbohydrate fragments compared to HAs of chernozems and gray forest soil. The carbon skeleton of HAs from typical rich chernozem contained significantly more aliphatic and carbohydrate fragments compared to typical chernozem, which probably reflected the lower degree of HA transformation in rich chernozem.     

The influence of super-high-frequency radiation on the enzyme activity and number of microorganisms in soils of southern Russia

The effects of super-high-frequency radiation (SHF radiation) on the microflora and enzymatic activity of an ordinary chernozem, a chestnut soil, a brown forest soil, and gray sands were studied. The exposure time of the 800-W SHF radiation was 30 s, 1, 10, and 60 min. The activity of the soil enzymes (catalase and invertase) was found to be more resistant to the action of SHF radiation than the number of microorganisms (ammonifying bacteria (including sporogenous ones), bacteria of the genus Azotobacter, and micromycetes). According to the resistance of the enzymes, the soils studied form the following sequence: gray sands > ordinary chernozem ≥ chestnut soil > brown forest soil. Under the action of the SHF radiation, the number of microorganisms in the ordinary chernozem decreased to a lesser extent.     

Effect of repeated drying-wetting-freezing-thawing cycles on the active soil organic carbon pool

Samples of soddy-podzolic soil (long-term overgrown fallow and continuous bare fallow), gray forest soil (forest, farming agrocenosis), and a typical chernozem (virgin steppe, forest area, farming agrocenosis, continuous bare fallow) have been incubated under stable conditions; other samples of these soils have been subjected to six drying-wetting-incubation-freezing-thawing-incubation cycles during 136 days. The wetting of dried soils and the thawing of frozen soils result in an abrupt but short increase in the emission rate of C-CO₂ by 2.7–12.4 and 1.6–2.7 times, respectively, compared to the stable incubation conditions. As the soil is depleted in potentially mineralizable organic matter, the rate of the C-CO₂ emission pulses initiated by disturbing impacts decreases. The cumulative extra production of C-CO₂ by soils of natural lands for six cycles makes up 21–40% of that in the treatments with stable incubation conditions; the corresponding value for cultivated soils, including continuous clean fallow, is in the range of 45–82%. The content of potentially mineralizable organic matter in the soils subjected to recurrent drying-wetting-freezingthawing cycles decreased compared to the soils without disturbing impacts by 1.6–4.4 times, and the mineralization constants decreased by 1.9–3.6 times. It has been emphasized that the cumulative effect of drying-wetting-freezing-thawing cycles is manifested not only in the decrease in the total Corg from the soil but also in the reduction of the mineralization potential of the soil organic matter.     

Characterization of Soil Types and Subtypes in N-Dimensional Space of Multitemporal (Empirical) Soil Line

A classical soil line (SL) in the RED–NIR spectral space is specified by two coefficients “a” and “b.” In this form, it does not characterize soil types and subtypes. A multitemporal soil line (MSL) represents the major axis of the ellipse describing all possible pairs of RED–NIR values characterizing a bare soil surface for a given pixel of remote sensing images. The MSL in the RED–NIR spectral space is specified by several (N) coefficients. The resulting N-dimensional space of MSL coefficients makes it possible to give unique characteristics for each type and subtype of soils in the following zonal soil sequence: soddy-podzolic soils, light gray forest soils, gray forest soils, dark gray forest soils, podzolized chernozems, and leached chernozems. The analysis of variance allows us to state that the soils of this sequence significantly differ from one another in the characteristic sets of MSL coefficients. In other words, these coefficients characterize soil types and subtypes, and the MSL can be considered an empirical soil line (ESL) of the given type and subtype of soil. A classical SL is an integrity of ESLs of different soils within the given scene of remote sensing data.     

Geographical features of the distribution and renewal of easily decomposable organic matter in virgin and arable zonal soils of European Russia

A decrease in the depth of organic surface horizons (forest litters and steppe mats), the reserves of organic matter in them, and an increase in their renewal rate were noted for virgin and fallow soils when going from the southern taiga to the dry steppe zone. Zonal changes in the content and reserve of easily decomposable soil organic matter showed a similar tendency: these parameters regularly decreased from soddy-podzolic soils of the southern taiga to chestnut and light chestnut soils of the dry steppe. An exception from this series is provided by fallow chernozems of the steppe zone noted for the lowest content and reserve of labile organic matter in the series of soils studied. Similar, although less pronounced, tendencies were observed for the arable soils.     

Comparative Evaluation of Adsorption of Rare-Earth Elements in Some Soil Types

Eurasian Soil Science - Competitive adsorption of scandium, yttrium, and lanthanides was studied for soddy-podzolic and gray forest soils and for leached chernozem. The chemical behavior of...     

Contact angles at the water–air interface of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and clay minerals

Contact angles at the water–air interface have been measured for triturated preparations of clays and soils in order to assess changes in their hydrophobic properties under the effect of oil hydrocarbons. Tasks have been to determine the dynamics of contact angle under soil wetting conditions and to reveal the effect of chemical removal of organic matter from soils on the hydrophilicity of preparations. The potentialities of static and dynamic drop tests for assessing the hydrophilic–hydrophobic properties of soils have been estimated. Clays (kaolinite, gumbrine, and argillite) have been investigated, as well as plow horizons of soils from the Republic of Tatarstan: heavy loamy leached chernozem, medium loamy dark gray forest soil, and light loamy soddy-calcareous soil. The soils have been contaminated with raw oil and kerosene at rates of 0.1–3 wt %. In the uncontaminated and contaminated chernozem, capillary water capacity has been maintained for 250 days. The contact angles have been found to depend on the degree of dispersion of powdered preparation, the main type of clay minerals in the soil, the presence and amount of oxidation-resistant soil organic matter, and the soil–water contact time. Characteristic parameters of mathematical models for drop behavior on triturated preparations have been calculated. Contamination with hydrocarbons has resulted in a reliable increase in the contact angles of soil preparations. The hydrophobization of soil surface in chernozem is more active than in soils poorer in organic matter. The complete restoration of the hydrophilic properties of soils after hydrocarbon contamination is due to the oxidation of easily oxidizable organic matter at the low content of humus, or to wetting during several months in the absence of the mazut fraction.     

Regularities of extracting humic acids from soils using sodium pyrophosphate solutions

Regularities of extracting humic acids from different soil types (soddy-podzolic soil, gray forest soil, and all chernozem subtypes) with sodium pyrophosphate solutions at different pH values (from 5 to 13) have been studied. It is found that, regardless of soil type, the process occurs in two stages through the dissociation of carboxylic groups and phenolic hydroxyls, each of which can be described by a logistic function. Parameters of the logistic equations approximating the extraction of humic acids from soils at different pH values are independent of the content and composition of humus in soils. Changes in the optical density of humic acids extracted from soils using sodium pyrophosphate solutions with different pH values are described in the first approximation by the Gaussian function. The optically densest humic acids are extracted using sodium pyrophosphate solutions at pH 10. Therefore, it is proposed to use an extract with pH 10 for the characterization of organic matter with the maximum possible degree of humification in the given soil.     

Integrated evaluation of different electromagnetic impacts on biological properties of soils in southern Russia

An integral estimation of the effect of γ radiation at doses of 1, 5, 10, and 20 kGy, microwave radiation of 800 W, and an alternating magnetic field of industrial frequency (50 Hz) on biological properties of soils in southern Russia was performed on the basis of the integral index of the biological soil status (IIBSS). By the degree of resistance to an alternating magnetic field estimated from the IIBSS value, the soils of southern Russia formed the following series: brown forest soil > chernozem ≥ soddy-calcareous soil ≥ gray sandy soil. By the resistance to microwave radiation estimated from the IIBSS value, the soils formed the following series: gray sandy soil > chernozem > chestnut soil ≥ brown forest soil.     

Distribution of heavy metals by the molecular-weight fractions of humic acids in the soils of long-term field experiments

The influence of different agricultural treatments on the contents of Cd, Zn, and Co in the organic matter and humic acids of soddy-podzolic and dark gray forest soils was studied in long-term field experiments. The use of gel chromatography proved the complicated molecular-weight composition of the humic acids in all the studied soils. The contents of heavy metals and their distribution by the molecular-weight fractions of humic acids were determined in the experimental soils and in the virgin podzolic soils. The complex nature of organomineral compounds of Cd and Zn with humic acids was shown by means of gel filtration. The thermodynamic stability of the organomineral complexes increased with the increasing weight of the initial molecular-weight fractions of humic acids.     

Dielectric characteristics of soils and categories of soil water

The complex permittivity of the Ap horizons of a leached chernozem, gray forest soil, and soddy-podzolic soil, as well as those of kaolin and its mixtures with sand, was studied by the capacitance method. The relationships between the characteristics of losses (the imaginary component ?″ and the loss tangent tan δ) and the water content (W) are more indicative of changes in the water categories than the analogous relationships of the real component (?′), which characterizes the relaxation capacity of water molecules. The breakpoints on the curves tan ?′ = f(W) and ?″ = f(W) are more pronounced compared to the curve ?′ = f(W) and better agree with the soil-geological constants: tan δ = f(W) at the W value close to the wilting point (WP) for all soils and at the maximum water adsorption capacity (MWAC) and maximum capillary sorption capacity (MCSC) for kaolin and its mixtures; ?″ = f(W) at the MWAC, WP, and maximum molecular water capacity (MMWC) for the leached chernozem and soddy-podzolic soil. On the curve ?′ = f(W), breakpoints were observed only for the gray forest soil and sand-clay mixtures.     

Application of the Spectral Neighborhood of Soil Line Technique to Analyze the Intensity of Soil Use in 1985–2014 (by the Example of Three Districts of Tula Oblast)

The technique of separation of the spectral neighborhood of soil line (SNSL) makes it possible to perform quantitative estimates of the intensity of agricultural land use. This is achieved via calculation of the frequency of occurrence of bare soil surface (BSS). It is shown that the frequency of occurrence of BSS in 1984–1994 was linearly related to the soil type within the sequence of soddy strongly podzolic, soddy moderately podzolic, soddy slightly podzolic (Eutric Albic Glossic Retisols (Loamic, Aric, Cutanic, Differentic, Ochric)); light gray forest (Eutric Retisols (Loamic, Aric, Cutanic, Differentic, Ochric)), gray forest (Eutric Retisols (Loamic, Aric, Cutanic, Ochric)), and dark gray forest soils (Luvic Retic Greyzemic Phaeozems (Loamic, Aric)); podzolized chernozems (Luvic Greyzemic Chernic Phaeozems (Loamic, Aric, Pachic)) and leached chernozems (Luvic Chernic Phaeozems (Loamic, Aric, Pachic)). The intensity of exploitation of the least and most fertile soils in this sequence comprised 28 and 48%, respectively. In the next decade (1995–2004) the relationship between the type of soil and the intensity of its exploitation drastically changed; the intensity of exploitation of the leas and most fertile soils comprised 14 and 43%, respectively. Nearly a half of agricultural lands in the zones of soddy-podzolic and gray forest soils were abandoned, because the cultivation of the soils with the natural fertility below that in the podzolized chernozems became economically unfeasible under conditions of the economic crisis of the 1990s. The spatiotemporal relationships between the character of the soil cover and the intensity of exploitation of the agricultural lands manifest themselves by the decreasing frequency of occurrence of BSS from leached chernozems to soddy strongly podzolic soils and from 1985 to 2014.     

Distribution of yeast complexes in the profiles of different soil types

The number and taxonomic structure of the yeast complexes were investigated in the full profiles of the soddy-podzolic soil (Central Forest State Nature Biosphere Reserve), dark gray forest soil (Kaluzhskie Zaseki Reserve), and chernozem (Privolzhskaya Forest-Steppe Reserve). In all these soils, the number of yeasts was maximal (10⁴ CFU/g) directly under the litter; it drastically decreased with the depth. However, at the depth of 120–160 cm, the number of yeasts significantly increased in all the soils; their maximum was found in the illuvial horizon of the soddy-podzolic soil. Such a statistically significant increase in the number of yeasts at a considerable depth was found for the first time. Different groups of yeasts were present in the yeast communities of different soils. The species structure of yeast communities changed little in each soil: the same species were isolated both from the soil surface and from the depth of more than 2 m. The results showed that yeasts could be used for soil bioindication on the basis of specific yeast complexes in the profiles of different soil types rather than individual indicative species.     

Landau–Deryagin law and hydration energy of soils of different genesis

Linear regression equations between the logarithm of the total soil moisture potential and soil moisture content in the hygroscopic moisture range (Landau–Deryagin law) were derived for typical soils from different natural zones of European Russia. From these equations, a compact algorithm was developed for calculating the hydration energy of soils, which increases from 1280 to 10600 J/kg in the following soil series: heavy loamy soddy podzolic soil–heavy loamy gray forest soil–medium loamy light chestnut soil–heavy loamy brown semidesert soil–light clayey solonchak–light clayey chernozem–medium clayey krasnozem. Relationships were revealed between the hydration energy of soils, the specific surface of soils, the content of physical clay in soils, and the concentration of hydrated exchangeably adsorbed ions.     

Specific surface area and wetting heat of different soil types in European Russia

The surface properties (specific surface area and wetting heat) of the solid phase were estimated for the main soil types of European Russia: soddy-podzolic, alluvial, and gray forest soils; typical, leached, ordinary, and vertic chernozems; and soils of the solonetzic complex. It was found that the values of the specific surface area and wetting heat are indicative of particular features of the genetic horizon of each soil type. Changes in these soil properties under the effect of different anthropogenic impacts were studied. The bonding strength between the adsorbed water and the soil solid phase was characterized. It was shown that the water content at the potential of the first wetting film layer is close to the content of strongly bound water calculated from the wetting heat of the soils.     

Electrophoresis and size-exclusion chromatography of humic substances extracted from detritus and soils of different geneses

Electrophoresis in 10% polyacrylamide gel in the presence of denaturants and size-exclusion chromatography in Sephadex G-75 in 7 M urea were used for the comparative analysis of humic substances isolated from a typical chernozem, soddy-podzolic soil, and chestnut soil and from the easily decomposable organic matter (plant detritus) contained in these soils. After the electrophoresis, the gel with naturally colored bands of humic substances was further stained with a dye specific for proteins by immersing into a solution containing Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 and CuSO₄. The electrophoretic and chromatographic analyses showed that humic substances from the soils and the corresponding detritus fractions significantly differed in the intensity of the natural color of the electrophoretic fractions, the molecular-weight distribution, and the color of the electrophoretic fractions colored by the protein-specific dye (which was first discovered in this study). The hypothesis of Tyurin and Aleksandrova suggesting that the transformation of humus sources (plant detritus) into humic substances proceeds in the direction from the high-molecular compounds to the low-molecular compounds was experimentally confirmed.     

Influence of moisture on the stability of soil organic matter and plant residues

The effect of three levels of soil moistening on the organic matter mineralization was assessed for three arable soils and wheat straw in the course of a 150-day-long incubation experiment. It was found that the intensity of the organic matter mineralization increased in parallel to soil moistening in the podzolized chernozem and dark-chestnut soil and remained stable in the gray forest soil, which was explained by the low content of easily mineralizable fractions of active organic matter in the latter soil. The mineralization of wheat straw depended on the soil moistening rather than on soil properties.     

The informativeness of coefficients <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis> of the soil line for the analysis of remote sensing materials

The coefficients of the soil line are often taken into account in calculations of vegetation indices. These coefficients are usually calculated for the entire satellite image, or are taken as constants without any calculations. In both cases, the informativeness of these coefficients is low and insufficient for the needs of soil mapping. In our study, we calculated soil line coefficients at 8000 lattice points for the territory of Plavsk, Arsen’evsk, and Chern districts of Tula oblast on the basis of 34 Landsat 5, 7, and 8 images obtained in 1985–2014. In order to distinguish between the soil line calculated for a given image and the soil line calculated for lattice points on the basis of dozens of multitemporal images, we suggest that the latter can be referred to as the temporal soil line. The temporal soil line is described by a classical equation: NIR = RED a + b, where a is its slope relative to the horizontal axis (RED), and b is the Y-axis (NIR) intercept. Both coefficients were used to create soil maps. The verification of the maps was performed with the use of data on 1985 soil pits. The informativeness of these coefficients appeared to be sufficient for delineation of eight groups of soils of different taxonomic levels: soddy moderately podzolic soils, soddy slightly podzolic soils, soddy-podzolic soils, light gray forest soils, gray forest soils, dark gray forest soils, podzolized chernozems, and leached chernozems. The b coefficient proved to be more informative, as it allowed us to create the soil map precisely on its basis. In order to create the soil map on the basis of the a coefficient, we had to apply some threshold values of the b coefficient. The bare soil on each of Landsat scenes was separated with the help of the mask of agricultural fields and the notion of the spectral neighborhood of soil line (SNSL).     

栗钙土的年龄

在阐明粟钙土发生特性的基础上,本文运用放射性碳方法断定了玄武岩熔岩台地上栗钙土有机质和腐殖质组成中胡敏酸、胡敏素的年龄.结果表明,我国栗钙土与其它国家的软土系同一时期的产物,它们形成于大约6000年以前.栗钙土有机质诸部分的年龄序列是:胡敏酸>胡敏素>土壤有机质.