Study of podzolization process under different vegetation cover in the Jizerské hory Mts. region

Antonín Nikodem, Lenka Pavlů, Radka Kodešová, Luboš Borůvka and Onřej Drábek
Additional contact information
Antonín Nikodem: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Lenka Pavlů: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Radka Kodešová: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Luboš Borůvka: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Onřej Drábek: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Soil and Water Research, 2013, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: The development of Podzols is conditioned by many factors. One of them is vegetation cover. The aim of this study was to examine in detail special chemical properties, micromorphological features and water retention ability of Podzols under two different vegetation covers (spruce forest and grass). The study was performed in the Jizerské hory Mts., which were strongly influenced by atmospheric acidificant depositions in the past. The study was focused on the assessment of a 30-year grass amelioration impact on soils on the former forest land. It was shown that larger differences in the studied chemical properties (pHKCl, pHH2O, eCEC, content of Ca, Mg, AlKCl, AlH2O, Al(X)1+, Al(Y)2+ and Al3+ species) were in the surface organic horizons and decreased with depth. Podzolization intensity was higher under the spruce forest than under the grass cover. Higher amounts of potentially dangerous Al forms were detected in the soils under the spruce forest than under the grass. Grass expansion on clear-cut areas (former forest) as a natural amelioration step results in the particular restoration of soil conditions. The micromorphological features studied on the soil thin sections using the optical microscope and soil water retention curves measured on the undisturbed 100 cm3 soil samples showed a significant influence of the organic matter presence on the soil structure and retention ability of H and Bhs horizons. Soil under the grass cover had denser structure (e.g. greater fraction of small capillary pores) and higher retention ability than soil under the spruce forest. Very similar retention curves were measured in the Ep and Bs horizons under both vegetation covers. Micromorphological features studied on the thin soil sections clearly documented a podzolization mechanism (e.g. organic material transport and its accumulation, weathering process and Fe oxidation and mobilization).

Keywords: grass; micromorphological features; podzolization process; soil water retention; spruce forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/56/2012-SWR.html (text/html)
http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/56/2012-SWR.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:8:y:2013:i:1:id:56-2012-swr

DOI: 10.17221/56/2012-SWR

Access Statistics for this article

Soil and Water Research is currently edited by Ing. Markéta Knížková, (Executive Editor)

More articles in Soil and Water Research from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().