Potential impacts of climate change on soil properties

Climate change is expected to have a vigorous impact on soils and ecosystems due to elevated temperature and changes in precipitation (amount and frequency), thereby altering biogeochemical and hydrological cycles. Several phenomena associated with climate change and anthropogenic activity affect soils indirectly via ecosystem functioning (such as higher atmospheric CO2 concentration and N deposition). Continuous interactions between climate and soils determine the transformation and transport processes. Long-term gradual changes in abiotic environmental factors alter naturally occurring soil forming processes by modifying the soil water regime, mineral composition evolution, and the rate of organic matter formation and degradation. The resulting physical and chemical soil properties play a fundamental role in the productivity and environmental quality of cultivated land, so it is crucial to evaluate the potential outcomes of climate change and soil interactions. This paper attempts to review the underlying long-term processes influenced by different aspects of climate change. When considering major soil forming factors (climate, parent material, living organisms, topography), especially climate, we put special attention to soil physical properties (soil structure and texture, and consequential changes in soil hydrothermal regime), soil chemical properties (e.g. cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter content as influenced by changes in environmental conditions) and soil degradation as a result of longterm soil physicochemical transformations. The temperate region, specifically the Carpathian Basin as a heterogeneous territory consisting of different climatic and soil zones from continental to mountainous, is used as an example to present potential changes and to assess the effect of climate change on soils. The altered physicochemical and biological properties of soils require accentuated scientific attention, particularly with respect to significant feedback processes to climate and soil services such as food security

Lebegtetett hordalékmérési módszerek összehasonlító vizsgálata balatoni részvízgyűjtőkön = Connections between total suspended solid concentra tion and turbidity measurements at three catchment outlets

The present study investigated the quantity of total suspended solids (TSS) in three small catchments and compared the data to turbidity measurements. The TSS data were based on filtration, drying and weight measurements, while the turbidity measurements were retrieved using a handheld device with a turbidity sensor. Water was collected daily at the catchment outlets from November 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017, representing the winter and spring seasons. The lowest quantity of TSS was detected at the catchment outlet of the Esztergályi Stream; however, there were two lakes close to the monitoring point where soil particles may have settled, possibly explaining the low TSS values. The Csorsza and Tetves streams had similar TSS values during winter, but in the spring samples the TSS values were approximately three times higher in the Csorsza Stream than in the Tetves Stream. The relationship between water discharge and TSS values was also investigated for the Tetves Stream, but no significant correlations were observed between them. The results suggested that the labour-intensive TSS measurements (e.g. filtration, soil weight measurements) could be replaced to a good approximation using the handheld device. The spatial heterogeneity within and between the catchments influences the amount of suspended sediment and hence the measurement accuracy. Therefore, the use of the handheld device should also be complemented with other methods, such as the filtration used in the present study, to attain more precise values

Application of the Digital Kreybig Soil Information System for the delineation of naturally handicapped areas in Hungary

EU’s Common Agricultural Policy encourages maintaining agricultural production in less favored areas (LFA) to secure both stable production and income to farmers and to protect the environment. Recently the delimitation of LFAs is suggested to be carried out using common biophysical diagnostic criteria on low soil productivity and poor climate conditions all over Europe. The criterion system was elaborated by European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) and its operational implementation comes under member state competence. This process requires the existence of an adequate national spatial soil information system with appropriate data structure and spatial resolution as well as a proper methodology for its analysis. Hungary possesses an appropriate, nationwide, 1:25,000 scale legacy dataset originating from the national soil mapping project, which was digitally processed and developed into the Digital Kreybig Soil Information System (DKSIS). In the paper we present how DKSIS was applied for the identification and delineation of areas in Hungary concerned by the common biophysical criteria related to soil. Soil data linked to soil profiles and SMUs were jointly spatially analyzed for the compilation of nationwide digital maps displaying spatial distribution of specific limiting factors

Method for the compilation of a stratified and harmonized soil physical database using legacy and up-to-date data sources

An attempt is outlined for the compilation of an integrated and harmonized stratified soil physical database serving hydrologic modeling, as the basis of estimating soil hydraulic parameters in the unsaturated zone. Due to the appropriate spatial and thematic resolution and data processing status, the Digital Kreybig Soil Information System (DKSIS) and Hungarian Agrogeological Database (HAD) were chosen as pedological and agrogeological data sources for describing the soil physical properties in the unsaturated zone. The DKSIS contains legacy soil data (as hy, pH, salt, OM, CaCO3 content, etc.) in finely stratified resolution (3–5 soil layers within 1.5–2.0 m), but lacks particle size data. HAD has a coarser stratification (8–15 layers within 8–10 m) with detailed particle size data. The five-cleft FAO texture classification can serve as an interface in their joint application. The particle size and hy data pairs from the existing Hungarian Soil Monitoring (TIM) network made it possible to define the relation between FAO texture class vs. hy value, and based on the HYPRES database each FAO texture class can be characterized by typical Mualem-van Genuchten parameter sets (Wösten et al., 1999). The compiled, harmonized database characterizes the distinguished soil and sediment layers – with a thickness of at least 10 cm – for a 690 km2 large model area, describing their thickness and texture classes to the depth of the permanent groundwater level, in every single square kilometer cell of the model area. The compiled database is indispensable in the model simulation based analysis of regional water management problems like drought, flood and inland inundation

Method for the compilation of a stratified and harmonized soil physical database using legacy and up-to-date data sources

An attempt is outlined for the compilation of an integrated and harmonized stratified soil physical database serving hydrologic modeling, as the basis of estimating soil hydraulic parameters in the unsaturated zone. Due to the appropriate spatial and thematic resolution and data processing status, the Digital Kreybig Soil Information System (DKSIS) and Hungarian Agrogeological Database (HAD) were chosen as pedological and agrogeological data sources for describing the soil physical properties in the unsaturated zone. The DKSIS contains legacy soil data (as hy, pH, salt, OM, CaCO3 content, etc.) in finely stratified resolution (3–5 soil layers within 1.5–2.0 m), but lacks particle size data. HAD has a coarser stratification (8–15 layers within 8–10 m) with detailed particle size data. The five-cleft FAO texture classification can serve as an interface in their joint application. The particle size and hy data pairs from the existing Hungarian Soil Monitoring (TIM) network made it possible to define the relation between FAO texture class vs. hy value, and based on the HYPRES database each FAO texture class can be characterized by typical Mualem-van Genuchten parameter sets (Wösten et al., 1999). The compiled, harmonized database characterizes the distinguished soil and sediment layers – with a thickness of at least 10 cm – for a 690 km2 large model area, describing their thickness and texture classes to the depth of the permanent groundwater level, in every single square kilometer cell of the model area. The compiled database is indispensable in the model simulation based analysis of regional water management problems like drought, flood and inland inundation