Hydrothermic conditions of functioning of gray soils: Assessment and prognosis

The revealed trends of temperature and precipitation changes between 1932 and 2001 suggest that the nearest ten years in the southern Moscow region should be characterized by the fall in soil temperatures and the rise in the soil water content during the growing season in spite of the significant shift in the water and temperature regimes of plowed soils toward the aridity and higher continentality of their climate. The resulting situation can affect agricultural production by favoring the transition from high-input farming to grass farming in the southern Moscow region.