Soil quality: development of regional indexes, estimation of changes of soil quality under the influence of soil erosion, pollution, and other factors

Practical experience:

 Soil particle size analysis; soil column experiments; estimation of agrochemical characteristics: total nitrogen, organic carbon, electroconductivity; estimation of total bacterial counts, microbial biomass, microbial respiration; and estimation of soil enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, cellulase, urease, etc).

 The experiments conducted and the results obtained:

 Cultivated and uncultivated, polluted and unpolluted soil samples from slopes and territories without inclination were characterized. Column soil experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the migration of pollutants disposed on the soil surface and the influence of these pollutants on biological properties of soil layers. It was shown that biological parameters such as soil microbial biomass and respiration were sensitive indicators of changes occurring in soils. In many cases, absolute values of the parameters obtained were contradictory. Using cluster analysis of relative values, significant differences between the samples were demonstrated and the main influencing factor was revealed. The regional indexes for estimation of soil quality (for oil-producing central regions in Russia) were developed and checked. Thus, for estimation of quality of water-eroded soil, an integral indicator based on assessment of humus layer thickness, slope angle, soil organic matter content, microbial biomass, and plant characteristics was suggested. The use of this indicator revealed differences in the erosion level of soils that had humus layers of equal thickness but were situated on different parts of the slope.

 Please see the following publications:

         Galitskaya P.Y., Selivanovskaya S.Y., Mamaeva E.V. (2014). Biological and agrochemical properties of soils on uncultivated slopes Fresenius Environmental Bulletin. In Press.

         Shafigullin B.U., Galitskaya P.Y., Selivanovskaya S.Y. (2011). Assessment of quality of eroded soil by means of complex index Peoples? Friendship University of Russia Bulletin. Ecology and safety of living. 3: 70-79. (in Russian)

 Please contact: Svetlana.Selivanovskaya@kpfu.ru, gpolina33@yandex.ru