<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The soil aggregation and structure, water stability of aggregates, and peculiarities of microstructure formation of the ravine forest soils in Dnipropetrovsk region on the example of the northern variant of the ravine forest “Kapitanivskiy” have been identified. The soil properties of southern and northern ravine exposures have been compared. The soil structure, aggregate composition, water stability of aggregates as well as soil-forming processes of the ravine ecosystem have been analyzed. Micro-morphological studies have shown a high degree of aggregation of the upper (0–60 cm) horizons of the soil profile. The structure-forming process is of a zoogenic origin. Aggregates of coprolite nature contain well-disintegrated plant remains. Dark gray, almost black color along the entire area of the micromorphological slide is due to a large amount of organic compounds, which indicates active processes of humification. Fine-dispersed humus consists of a large number of evenly spaced humus clusters. The type of humus is mull. The skeleton consists of minerals of various sizes, dominated by quartz and feldspars. Plasma is humus-clay, homogeneous throughout the entire slide, anisotropic with speckled glowing. Microstructure is mainly aggregated and, in some places, spongy, depending on a microzone of the soil slide. Elemental microstructure is of plasma-silty type. The area of the visible surface of the pores in the upper horizons of the soil profile is fairly large (40%). Pores are round and elongated, of regular shape, here and there with remains of small invertebrates. The deeper the soil slide is, the smaller the area of visible pores along with aggregation becomes. Correlating with micromorphological characteristics, water resistance of structural aggregates reaches very high (90.01% ± 3.07) values in the upper horizons of the soil slide, decreasing at depths. The coefficient of pedality is rather high (7.83 ± 0.81) in the upper horizons, decreasing at depths.</p></abstract>

The soil aggregation and structure, water stability of aggregates, and peculiarities of microstructure formation of the ravine forest soils in Dnipropetrovsk region on the example of the northern variant of the ravine forest “Kapitanivskiy” have been identified. The soil properties of southern and northern ravine exposures have been compared. The soil structure, aggregate composition, water stability of aggregates as well as soil-forming processes of the ravine ecosystem have been analyzed. Micro-morphological studies have shown a high degree of aggregation of the upper (0–60 cm) horizons of the soil profile. The structure-forming process is of a zoogenic origin. Aggregates of coprolite nature contain well-disintegrated plant remains. Dark gray, almost black color along the entire area of the micromorphological slide is due to a large amount of organic compounds, which indicates active processes of humification. Fine-dispersed humus consists of a large number of evenly spaced humus clusters. The type of humus is mull. The skeleton consists of minerals of various sizes, dominated by quartz and feldspars. Plasma is humus-clay, homogeneous throughout the entire slide, anisotropic with speckled glowing. Microstructure is mainly aggregated and, in some places, spongy, depending on a microzone of the soil slide. Elemental microstructure is of plasma-silty type. The area of the visible surface of the pores in the upper horizons of the soil profile is fairly large (40%). Pores are round and elongated, of regular shape, here and there with remains of small invertebrates. The deeper the soil slide is, the smaller the area of visible pores along with aggregation becomes. Correlating with micromorphological characteristics, water resistance of structural aggregates reaches very high (90.01% ± 3.07) values in the upper horizons of the soil slide, decreasing at depths. The coefficient of pedality is rather high (7.83 ± 0.81) in the upper horizons, decreasing at depths.

The Influence of the Slope Exposure on the Soil Aggregation and Structure, Water Stability of Aggregates, and Ecological Microstructure Formation of the Ravine Forest Soils in Pre-Dnipro Region (Ukraine)

Ekológia (Bratislava)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The soil aggregation and structure, water stability of aggregates, and peculiarities of microstructure formation of the ravine forest soils in Dnipropetrovsk...

The Influence of the Slope Exposure on the Soil Aggregation and Structure, Water Stability of Aggregates, and Ecological Microstructure Formation of the Ravine Forest Soils in Pre-Dnipro Region (Ukraine)

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 116 - 129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2020-0009

Keywords
ravine forest, soil, structure, aggregation, water resistance, micromorphology

© 2020 Kateryna Bozhko et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The Influence of the Slope Exposure on the Soil Aggregation and Structure, Water Stability of Aggregates, and Ecological Microstructure Formation of the Ravine Forest Soils in Pre-Dnipro Region (Ukraine)

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 116 - 129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2020-0009

Keywordsravine forest, soil, structure, aggregation, water resistance, micromorphology

© 2020 Kateryna Bozhko et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
ravine forest, soil, structure, aggregation, water resistance, micromorphology