Spatial and temporal features of soil erosion in the forest-steppe zone of the East-European plain

Data on the rate of the erosion-accumulation processes within the sloped junctions of soils studied on key plots in Tula, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts were analyzedyesBS

Influence of forest shelterbelts on local pedodiversity (Belgorod Oblast)

Detailed mapping of soils under a multi-row 4-km-long 50-year-old forest shelterbelt crossing diverse landforms and under adjacent croplands was performed at the key site in Belgorod oblast, in the south of the Central Russian Upland. Samples were collected in 30 points both in the central part of the shelterbelt and at distances of 30 meters on both sides of the shelterbelt. Maps of the depth of humus horizon, organic carbon content, depth of carbonates, and the soil map were compiled; indices of richness, diversity (Shannon, Simpson, Rao) and taxonomic distances (as a quantitative indicator of soil cover contrasts) were calculate

Accumulation of Organic Carbon in Chernozems (Mollisols) under Shelterbelts in Russia and the United States

Shelterbelts that were created in place of meadow and meadowsteppe landscapes of the forest steppe zone of northern continents serve as areas of carbon accumulation and participate in the formation of soil organic matter. In the Great Plains of the United States (in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) and on the Central Russian Upland (Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk oblasts), a general tendency toward an increase in the Corg pool in the topsoil (0–30 cm) from the marginal parts of the shelterbelts toward their cen tral parts by about 3.5–10.0 t per each 10 m has been identified. In 55 years of the existence of shelterbelts on chernozems in the European part of Russia, the mean annual rate of the organic carbon accumulation in the upper meter has been varying within 0.7–1.5 t/ha. In 19 years of the existence of a shelterbelt in the area of Huron (South Dakota), the mean annual rate of the organic carbon accumulation in the 1mthick layer of the Bonilla soil series (Haplustolls) has reached 1.9 t/ha

Early stages of the evolution of chernozems under forest vegetation (Belgorod Oblast)

We studied automorphic forest-steppe Luvic and Haplic Chernozems (Siltic/Clayic, Pachic) of the southern part of the Central Russian Upland (Belgorod region), which were covered with broadleaved forest vegetation at different times (from 25 to 75 years ago). The studies were carried out on an overgrowing fallow and the adjacent maple-ash shelterbelt and on an area of growth of a natural oak forest towards the virgin meadow stepp

Digital mapping of soil associations and eroded soils (Prokhorovskii district, Belgorod oblast)

A new method of digital mapping of the soil cover pattern with calculation of the share of soils of different taxa and degree classes for soil erosion in the soil associations is proposed. A comparative analysis of soil maps obtained using different methods of construction (visual expert and digital) and with their different contents (displaying the dominant soil or soil associations) has been performed. In the case of mapping by the visual expert method (with the display of the dominant soil), a significant underestimation of the total area of moderately and strongly eroded soils in comparison with the digital mapping is note

Change of forest-steppe chernozems under the influence of shelterbelts in the south of the central Russian upland

The results of a comprehensive study of soils under a 30-m-wide five-row oak shelterbelt of meridional orientation and on the adjacent arable fields of the agroforestry landscape in typical forest-steppe of Belgorod oblast are discusse