Some features of soil organic matter in parks and adjacent residential areas of Moscow

The humus-accumulative horizons of soils from two natural-historical parks of Moscow and the adjacent residential areas were studied. An increase in the concentration of organic matter was observed in the soils of the residential areas. A tendency toward the formation of fulvate humus typical for southern taiga soils persisted in the low-carbonate nongleyed humus-accumulative horizons. At the same time, the transformation rate, character, and content of organic matter in the urban soils were strongly affected by the contamination, calcareous invasion, and remediation of the soils and sediments.