Valentina E. Prikhodko

Carbon and nitrogen contents and greenhouse gas fluxes of the Eurasian steppe soils with different land-use histories located in the Arkaim museum reserve of South Ural, Russia

The effects of different land-use histories on contents of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and fluxes of greenhouse gases [carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O)] measured using the closed chamber method were investigated in the Arkaim museum reserve located in the South Ural of Russia. A natural forest site (NF) and two grassland sites that had different land-use histories (CL: cropland until 1991; PST: pasture until 1991; both sites have been fallow for 18 years) were selected for soil sampling and gas flux measurements. The vegetation in NF was mainly Betula pendula Roth. with steppe cherry and grassy cover. Perennial grasses (Stipa spp., Festuca spp. and others) have been planted in CL and PST since 1991 to establish reserve mode, and the projective cover of these plants were > 90% in both sites in 2009. Soil samples were taken from the A horizon in the three sites, and additionally samples of the O horizon were taken from NF. The contents of soil C and N [total C, total N, soluble organic C, soluble N and microbial biomass C (MBC)] in the O horizon of NF were the largest among all investigated soils (p < 0.05). Additionally, the total C, total N and MBC in PST were significantly larger than in CL (p < 0.05). Positive CO2 fluxes (i.e., CO2 efflux) in all three investigated sites were observed. The CO2 efflux in NF was significantly larger than in CL and PST (129, 30 and 25 mg C m−2 hour−1, respectively, p < 0.05), although there was no significant difference in values of CO2 efflux between CL and PST. There were no significant differences in the fluxes of CH4 and N2O among NF, CL and PST (p > 0.05). Our current research indicated that, in soils of the Eurasian steppe zone of Russia, total C, total N and MBC were affected not only by current land-use (i.e., fallow grassland vs. natural forest) but also by past (until 18 years ago) land-use.

Transformation of the organic matter of steppe soils of the Trans-Ural region after their conversion into the reserved regime

Soils of the Arkaim Reserve were studied before the establishment of the reserve and, then, 12 and 18 years after the reservation of this territory. Former pastures and hayfields occupy 70% of the reserve, and former plowlands occupy about 30%. Some of them have been converted into sown meadows. The soil cover of the reserve is composed of chernozems (about 50% of the area), solonetzes and salt-affected soils (32%), meadow-chernozemic soils (7%), and forest soils (1%). In eighteen years of reservation, the Corg content in the upper 20 cm has increased by 0.5–0.8%, or by 14–25% of the initial content with the average rate of 60–100 g C/m2 per year. The accumulation of Corg has been more intensive in the soils of former plowlands than in the soils of former pastures and in the chernozems than in the meadow-chernozemic soils. Self-restoration of most of the soils of the reserve is accompanied the rise in the content of the labile fraction of organic carbon. In some soils, the contents of the labile fraction (0.3%) and light-weight fraction (>25% of Corg) have reached optimum values. After 18 years of reservation, the biomass of microorganisms has reached 500–800 μg/g of soil (or 1.1–1.9% of Corg); the basal respiration has reached 0.7–1.5 μg C-CO2/g per hour. These characteristics are the highest for meadow-chernozemic soils under former pasture and the lowest for postagrogenic chernozems. The rise in the Corg content and changes in the particular forms of soil organic matter under the regime of a reserve greatly depend on the soil type and on the former land use. The role of parent materials is smaller. Many soils of the reserve require a long period of rehabilitation.

Carbon and nitrogen compounds and emission of greenhouse gases in ancient and modern soils of the Arkaim Reserve in the Steppe Trans-Ural Region

Carbon and nitrogen compounds and the emission of CO2, CH4, and N2O were studied in the ancient buried and modern background soils developed from different parent materials in the Arkaim Reserve of Chelyabinsk oblast. The studies were performed after an 18-year-long period of absence of anthropogenic loads on the local ecosystems. Element contents in the humus horizons of the chernozems of the former plowland and pastures and of the forest soil reach 28–45.6 g/kg for Corg, 2.5–4.5 g/kg for Ntot, 140–423 mg/kg for labile carbon (Cl), 32–73 mg/kg for labile nitrogen (Nl), 350–952 mg/kg for carbon of microbial biomass (Cmic), and 38–85 mg/kg for nitrogen of microbial biomass (Nmic). The contents of different forms of C and N depend on the soil type and texture and on the type of land use, including that before reservation of the territory. The emission of greenhouse gases was examined in this area for the first time. The production of CO2 by the soil buried about 4000 years ago is an order of magnitude lower than that by the modern soil. The emission and sink of N2O are small in both modern and ancient soils. The behavior of methane is clearly different in the automorphic and hydromorphic soils: the former serve as methane sinks, whereas the latter act as methane sources. The rate of the CO2 emission from the soils is controlled by many factors, including the soil type, texture, degree of hydromorphism, composition of parent materials, and type of land use.

Reconstruction of Climate, Soils, and Vegetation in the Turan–Uyuk Basin of South Siberia at the Beginning of the Subatlantic Period of the Holocene

Four Scythian kurgans of the burial site Beloe Lake-3 were studied in the Turan–Uyuk Depression in the Republic of Tyva. They were constructed about 2565–2390 calendar years ago (calibrated with deviation 1 σ). Soil formation after 2500 yrs of the construction of the kurgans was examined in the interkurgan area. The properties of the background surface and ancient buried soils have much in common, and the difference between the soils of the four kurgans is small. This attests to the fact that the paleoclimatic conditions in the period of the necropolis construction remained stable and were similar to the modern climatic conditions. According to palynological data, the climate at the stage of the construction of the first two kurgans was a little more humid in comparison with the modern climate; it became somewhat drier after 95 years, during the construction of the third kurgan (2425 cal. BP) and again tended to humidification at the final stage of the necropolis creation. These changes in the paleoclimatic conditions are indicated by variations in the structure and composition of associations of xerophytes, mesophytes, hydrophytes, and ruderal plants. At the Uyuk stage, the area was mainly occupied by steppe phytocenoses with a predominance of xerophytes over mesophytes, and hydrophilous vegetation was allocated to moistened habitats near water reservoirs. Larch forests grew near water bodies. The variable anthropogenic impact on the landscape was stronger at the initial and final stages of the construction of the Uyuk culture necropolis.