Ferrum concretions forms in the mollic gley soils of Low (Male) Polissya

In the humid conditions, the most common ground forms are the ferruginous ones: ferrum concretions, marsh ore, ocher spots, etc. Mollic gley soils are widely spread along the periphery of marshes and are formed under the influence of mollic and gley processes on various soil-forming rocks under conditions of sporadically pulsating water regime and excessive moisture under the meadow and swamp biocenoses. The ferrum concretions are characteristic of all genetic horizons of mollic gley soils, except for the soil-forming rock, and their content ranges from 3.3% in the mollic to 47.1% in the lower transitional horizon. The gross iron content in the fine mollic gley soils, as well as in the ferrum concretions forms, increases with depth, and the maximum values are characteristic of the lower transition horizon. The lowest values of the gross iron content are characteristic of the fine soil-forming rock (16.0 mg / 100 g soil) and the mollic soil (66.4 mg / 100 g soil). It was established that the gross chemical content of the ferrum concretions forms is dominated by the iron oxides with the highest content in the ferrum concretions of the mollic soils (48.75%). Also the ferrum concretions forms of iron are characterized by a rather high content of aluminum oxides (5.59–7.92%). The highest values of the accumulation coefficient are characteristic of the iron oxide (Kx = 7.21–2.58), which confirms the hypothesis of the dominant role of its compounds in the formation of the ferrum concretions forms

Defining Priority Land Covers that Secure the Livelihoods of Urban and Rural People in Ethiopia: a Case Study Based on Citizens' Preferences

Securing land management systems that maintain land covers is important for sustaining human livelihoods in Africa; however, simultaneously maintaining a viable natural environment is a serious challenge. Aggravated by rapid population growth and biodiversity loss, Ethiopia is an illustrative example of this issue. Stressing the need for a bottom-up stakeholder perspective, we identify and map land covers that deliver multiple ecosystem services that are important for the livelihoods of rural and urban citizens in the southern part of Ethiopia's Rift Valley. First, we interviewed 400 urban and rural residents to identify the land covers that deliver desired ecosystem services in three agroecological zones, representing a steep gradient in the livelihood conditions. Second, to support the inclusion of priority land covers in spatial planning, we located spatial concentrations of individual land covers providing bundles of desired ecosystem services. The majority of urban respondents selected homegarden agroforestry (92% of respondents from this group), freshwater lake (82%), river (70%), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (65%), natural old-growth forest (59%), rural settlement (52%), Afromontane undifferentiated forest (52%), and urban areas (73%) as important for their livelihood. In contrast, the majority of rural respondents selected three land covers: homegarden agroforestry (80% of respondents from this group), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (58%), and urban areas (65%). To maintain the identified natural and semi-natural priority land covers, at least two land management strategies are crucial to sustain the provision of ecosystem services for the livelihoods of both urban and rural people, and biodiversity conservation: (1) maintaining traditional agroforestry land-use practices, and (2) enhancing the protection and sustainable management of natural forest ecosystems. Additionally, integrated spatial planning is needed that considers both rural local community-based resource management that focuses on local needs for employment and products, and global demands to conserve biodiversity

Multiple factors shape the interaction of people with urban greenspace: Sweden as a case study

This study identifies and analyses multiple factors that impact people's interactions with urban greenspace in Sweden. An unrestricted, self-selected online survey was used to collect the data. The survey questions were related to individual characteristics of respondents, including socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported nature connectedness, and self-reported constraints to greenspace usage; perceived characteristics of urban greenspace, including its availability, quality, and accessibility, and benefits and problems; and preferences of respondents regarding types of urban greenspace and activities. Additionally, several spatially explicit variables were included in the analysis. A total of 2806 respondents from 208 (of 290) municipalities completed the survey. Our findings indicate that greenspace users are highly heterogeneous and utilise diverse green spaces along the urban-peri-urban gradient for various benefits. The statistical analyses identified 61 explanatory variables that affect the frequency of interactions with urban greenspace. In addition, we identify key factors that shape critical differences between frequent and infrequent urban users, such as nature connectedness, perceptions of urban greenspace functions, and their perceived accessibility. Our results highlight the complex challenge facing urban planners and managers of green spaces, who have to consider and integrate a vast array of factors influencing the willingness of increasingly diverse urban populations to interact with greenspace

Meeting places and social capital supporting rural landscape stewardship : A Pan-European horizon scanning

Achieving sustainable development as an inclusive societal process in rural landscapes, and sustainability in terms of functional green infrastructures for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, are wicked challenges. Competing claims from various sectors call for evidence-based adaptive collaborative governance. Leveraging such approaches requires maintenance of several forms of social interactions and capitals. Focusing on Pan-European regions with different environmental histories and cultures, we estimate the state and trends of two groups of factors underpinning rural landscape stewardship, namely, (1) traditional rural landscape and novel face-to-face as well as virtual fora for social interaction, and (2) bonding, bridging, and linking forms of social capital. We applied horizon scanning to 16 local landscapes located in 18 countries, representing Pan-European social-ecological and cultural gradients. The resulting narratives, and rapid appraisal knowledge, were used to estimate portfolios of different fora for social interactions and forms of social capital supporting landscape stewardship. The portfolios of fora for social interactions were linked to societal cultures across the European continent: “self-expression and secular-rational values” in the northwest, “Catholic” in the south, and “survival and traditional authority values” in the East. This was explained by the role of traditional secular and religious local meeting places. Virtual internet-based fora were most widespread. Bonding social capitals were the strongest across the case study landscapes, and linking social capitals were the weakest. This applied to all three groups of fora. Pan-European social-ecological contexts can be divided into distinct clusters with respect to the portfolios of different fora supporting landscape stewardship, which draw mostly on bonding and bridging forms of social capital. This emphasizes the need for regionally and culturally adapted approaches to landscape stewardship, which are underpinned by evidence-based knowledge about how to sustain green infrastructures based on both forest naturalness and cultural landscape values. Sharing knowledge from comparative studies can strengthen linking social capital

ІСТОРИЧНІ ЕТАПИ ФОРМАЛІЗАЦІЇ ҐРУНТОВИХ ДАНИХ І ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЯ ҐРУНТОВОЇ КАРТИ ЯК ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ МОДЕЛІ ДАНИХ ПРО ҐРУНТ

Throughout the existence of humanity, large amounts of information about the soil as the most valuable natural resource on the planet have been formed. Most of the information obtained requires streamlining and systematization. In order to understand the specifics and special conditions of the formation of information resources, it is important to explore the historical stages of accumulation and formalization of soil information. Especially effective is the historical analysis of soil cartographic research at the national, regional and global levels, which will assess the world's soil resources and approach the common requirements and approaches in the study and mapping of soil cover. In addition, extremely relevant current trends in soil science are the formation of "banks" of soil information and the creation of multilevel soil information systems, which will organize the accumulated information about soils and soil cover and allow effective use of information for scientific and applied purposes. Sources and types of information about the soil have changed and improved in the process of development of human civilization. The article examines the transformation of knowledge about soils throughout human history. The main historical stages of accumulation and formalization of information about soils are analyzed. A brief historical analysis of the development of ideas about soil, in particular the accumulation of information about its genesis, properties and geography indicates that the basic ideas of soil science have a centuries-old or, at least, long history. The article also presents a detailed analysis of the historical transformation of the soil map as one of the most effective methods of spatial interpretation of the collected information about soils and determining their place in the landscape. It is established that the first soil maps were created in China more than 4000 years BC and since then the soil map has undergone a long and complex process of formation and development, as described in the article. The article pays special attention to the application of the modern information technologies, in particular the transition to digital methods and digital maps, which allowed to automate the process of soil mapping. The first step in the systematization of the accumulated information is the formation of a digital database of vector soil cartographic materials in the form of maps with ordered attribute data and metadata. Today, there are significant differences between countries in the quantity and quality of available cartographic materials, as well as the state of digitalization of this information. In many cases, paper soil maps created in the 1960s and 1990s are scanned and digitized, but at the same time, modern technologies will make it possible to create a qualitatively new product, primarily using remote satellite data and GIS tools. The development of third-generation soil information systems has made it possible to create regional digital soil models. The third-generation soil information systems, also called as network type, are described because they are connected with the use of relational database, GIS methods and possibilities of the global Internet. In particular, international SOTER, European EUROPEAN SOIL DATABASE, Australian ASRIS, Canadian CANSIS digital soil models were developed according to these principles. In combination with climatic and geomorphological models, these models allow soil scientists to model individual soil processes, find optimal and operational solutions for the transformation of land use systems, control and predict the results of human impact on the environment.Досліджено трансформацію знань про ґрунти впродовж всієї історії людства. Проаналізовано основні історичні етапи накопичення та формалізації інформації про ґрунти. Подано детальний аналіз історичної трансформації ґрунтової карти як одного з найбільш ефективних методів просторової інтерпретації зібраної інформації про ґрунти та визначення їх місця у ландшафті. Особливу увагу приділено застосуванню новітніх інформаційних технологій, зокрема перехід до цифрових методів і електронних карт, що дозволило автоматизувати процес картографування ґрунтів

ІНФОРМАЦІЙНА МОДЕЛЬ ҐРУНТУ ЯК БАЗОВА ОДИНИЦЯ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОГО ҐРУНТОЗНАВСТВА

It is established that in the process of its origin and development, the soil forms the so-called internal information model, which is a holistic multi-stage organized information system and contains information about all stages of development of soil matter - from space to social. The inseparable interrelation of the soil cover with the conditions and history of the formation of the physical-geographical environment is highlighted, in particular, it is investigated that the soil is in constant interaction with the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and terrain, organisms etc. It is established that these connections between the soil and the conditions of soil formation are natural, and the soil is an integrated reflection of such interaction, or in other words a "mirror" of the landscape. The division of soil information into three different types is given: abiotic, biotic and sociogenic. Abiotic information includes information that is inherited and preserved from the cosmic stage of the history of atoms in nature, and the biotic type of information is directly related to the process of soil formation under the influence of alive organisms. There is also a sociogenic type of information that is related to human economic activity. In addition to the above, there is another independent class of information about the soil in nature - the ideal information. We are talking about the perfect reflection of the material, i.e. the separation of information from its material carrier. In this case, the information takes an ideal form and exists according to its own defined laws. The substantial carrier of the fourth class of information is the human brain, as well as in some way its consciousness.The type of imperial information can be divided into types: (1) popular empirical-agricultural. This type includes folk skills and knowledge of the soil, which arose as a result of the emergence and development of agriculture and are passed down from generation to generation; (2) experimental soil science. This is scientific knowledge about the soil, obtained as a result of field and laboratory research; (3) theoretical soil science. This is the highest type of information of this type, which synthesizes experimental data, creates a general theoretical basis and predictions of soil science, its relationships with other components of nature, biosphere and noosphere role. Such information is accumulated, stored, analyzed and in whole or in part reproduced again, i.e. its circulation takes place according to its own laws, regardless of its material carrier or a specific researcher. From generation to generation, the share of the ideal accumulates and grows, which, in our opinion, is due not so much to population growth, but primarily to increasing the level of education (secondary, secondary special, higher), the number of scientists and creative workers. The amount of this type of information is growing rapidly, leading to so-called information explosions. Only the last century has given about 70% of scientific knowledge and more than 90% of accumulated scientific and technical information. There are currently at least 2,000 different scientific disciplines, each of which is divided into separate scientific fields.Встановлено, що в процесі свого виникнення і розвитку, ґрунт формує так звану внутрішню інформаційну модель, яка є цілісною багатоступінчастою організованою інформаційною системою і містить інформацію про всі стадії розвитку матерії - від космічної до соціальної. Висвітлено нерозривний взаємозв’язок ґрунтового покриву із умовами та історією формування фізико-географічного середовища. Встановлено, що ці зв’язки між ґрунтом і умовами ґрунтоутворення є закономірними, а ґрунт є інтегрованим відображенням такої взаємодії, або іншими словами "дзеркалом" ландшафту. Подано поділ ґрунтової інформації на три різні типи: абіотичну, біотичну і соціогенну

Diagnostic criteria for lessivage of profile-differentiated soils of the Precarpathian region (Ukraine)

Profile-differentiated soils of the Precarpathian region were formed due to the combined effect of such processes as podzolization, lessivage, gley-eluvium. For the diagnosis of these soils, researchers have used different diagnostic features. The most controversial is the diagnosis of the lessivage process. Based on our own field and analytical studies, it is suggested to use the granulometric composition compared to the contents of the horizon and the silt content in argillanes for the diagnosis of lessivage argillanes within the illuvial horizon. A reliable feature of lessivage is the equal distribution of the montmorillonite group minerals within the profile, which is diagnosed by the ratio of SiO2:Al2O3 in the silty fraction, the accumulation of Fe2O3 and R2O3 in the illuvial horizon in comparison with the rock and positive values of eluvial-accumulative coefficient of oxides in the silty fraction in the illuvial part of the soil profile

Landscape Approach towards Integrated Conservation and Use of Primeval Forests: The Transboundary Kovda River Catchment in Russia and Finland

Regional clear-felling of naturally dynamic boreal forests has left remote forest landscapes in northern Europe with challenges regarding rural development based on wood mining. However, biodiversity conservation with higher levels of ambition than what is possible in regions with a long forest history, and cultural heritage, offer opportunities for developing new value chains that support rural development. We explored the opportunities for pro-active integrated spatial planning based on: (i) landscapes' natural and cultural heritage values in the transboundary Kovda River catchment in Russia and Finland; (ii) forest canopy loss as a threat; and (iii) private, public and civil sector stakeholders' views on the use and non-use values at local to international levels. After a 50-year history of wood mining in Russia, the remaining primeval forest and cultural heritage remnants are located along the pre-1940 Finnish-Russian border. Forest canopy loss was higher in Finland (0.42%/year) than in Russia (0.09%/year), and decreased from the south to the north in both countries. The spatial scales of stakeholders' use of forest landscapes ranged from stand-scale to the entire catchment of Kovda River in Russia and Finland (similar to 2,600,000 ha). We stress the need to develop an integrated landscape approach that includes: (i) forest landscape goods; (ii) other ecosystem services and values found in intact forest landscapes; and (iii) adaptive local and regional forest landscape governance. Transboundary collaboration offers opportunities for effective knowledge production and learning

ҐРУНТОВО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНЕ РАЙОНУВАННЯ ШИРОКОЛИСТЯНО-ЛІСОВОЇ ҐРУНТОВО-БІОКЛІМАТИЧНОЇ ЗОНИ УКРАЇНИ

The soil-bioclimatic zone of broad-leaved forests extends to the west and south-west of the forest-steppe zone and is timed to the most elevated and dissected regions of the Volyn’ and Podillia uplands, as well as the Glukhiv plain of the Serednjorus’ka Plateau. This zone was considered as a kind of forest-steppe island (Volyn’ Highland), or as a continuation of the forest-steppe zone in the west and north-east of Ukraine. On the map of agro-soil zonation of Ukraine, this territory belongs to the forest-steppe zone, soil-geographical zonation – to the broad-leaved forest and forest-steppe zones. The zone of broad-leaved forests is highlighted on the map of geobotanical (1978) and physical-geographical (2003) zonation of Ukraine. The zonation of this territory did not take into account the features of the soil structure, the morphological features of the soils, the nature of their role in soil combinations, and the history of nature development in the Holocene. In our opinion, the geobotanical zonation of 1978 is the closest one to the soil-geographical zonation.The purpose of soil-geographical zonation is to identify the relationship of soil cover with environmental conditions and the allocation of territories with the same structure of soil cover, a combination of factors of soil formation and the possibility of economic use of soils. The main approach to soil-geographical zonation was a structural approach that evaluates the structural difference between different regional units of soil cover.The central taxonomic unit of soil-geographical zonation is the Soil’s Krai. The Soil’s Krais are characterized by a natural combination of several genetic types of relief and are an association of the corresponding forms of soil structures, which are dominated by certain classes of soil combinations.The scheme of soil-geographical zonation reflects the spread of taxonomic units of soil, rather than systematic units of soil (types, subtypes).In the zone of deciduous forests mutually penetrate into each other, often forming mixed habitats, different types of forests with domination of beech, hornbeam or oak. In the structure of forest-meadow landscapes, in particular, at the margins or valleys, so-called forest-steppe areals with regraded chernozems, and eroded soils are widely used. Alpine, meadow and marsh soils are common in the river valleys, wide and narrow beams, on the floodplain terraces, forming the lower tiers of soil mezocombinations.In the broad-leaved zone of high-ordered erosion-tree-like combinations and combinations of variations of podzolization and gleying, we distinguish five Soil’s Kraiy (Volynskyi, Roztotsko-Opilskiy, Tovtrovyi, Central Podilskiy, Serednjorus’kiy) and 23 Soil’s Okrugy.The presented scheme of soil-geographical zonation is an author’s variant and needs improvement and refinement by conducting large-scale field studies of soil structures.Запропонована нова схема ґрунтово-географічного районування широколистяно-лісової ґрунтово-біокліматичної зони України до рангу краю і округу. Вона ґрунтується на принципах структурного підходу до просторової організації ґрунтового покриву. Критерієм виокремлення районізованих одиниць різного рангу, їхньої просторово-генетичної характеристики, є якісно-генетичні показники ґрунтового покриву з аналізом просторового розміщення ґрунтових комбінацій і ґрунтових структур. У межах широколистяно-лісової ґрунтово-біокліматичної зони України виділено 5 ґрунтових країв і 23 округи

Knowledge production and learning for sustainable forest landscapes: the European continent's west and east as a laboratory

To support human well-being, green (or ecological) infrastructure policy stresses the need to sustain functional networks of representative terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for the sus- tainable provision of multiple ecosystem services. Implementing this means that the com- plexity of interactions between social and ecological systems at multiple spatial scales and levels of governance needs to be understood. Place-based knowledge production and learn- ing through integration of different research disciplines in collaboration with actors and stakeholders (i.e. transdisciplinary research) is a key feature to achieve this goal. Using a suite of local landscapes and regions on the European continent’s West and East as a labora- tory, we developed and applied a step-wise approach to produce knowledge and encourage learning towards functional green infrastructures. Our diagnoses of forest landscapes show that the functionality for wood production and biodiversity conservation was inversely relat- ed in the gradient from long to short forest management histories. In Europe’s West there is a need for increased quantity of, and more functional, protected areas; diversification of management methods; and landscape restoration. In NW Russia there are opportunities to intensify forest management, and to continue the land-sparing approach with zoning for different functions, thus reducing biodiversity loss. Examples of diagnoses of social systems included the evaluation of comprehensive planning in Sweden, outcomes for biodiversity conservation of forest certification in Lithuania, and learning from environmental managers. We conclude that the main challenge for securing functional green infrastructure is poor cross-sectoral integration. Treatment of social-ecological systems requires knowledge-based collaboration and learning. The diversity of landscape histories and governance legacies on the European continent’s West and East, including Russia, offers grand opportunities for both knowledge production about performance targets for green infrastructure functionality, as well as learning to adapt governance and management to regional contexts. Integrating project funding for both researchers and stakeholder collaboration is a necessary strategy to fill the transdisciplinary research agenda. However, formal and informal disciplinary and administrative barriers can limit team building despite self-reflection and experience