Assessment of the Influence of Pyrogenic Factors on the Biological Properties of Chernozems

Abstract

Changes in the biological properties of chernozems caused by several pyrogenic agents have been studied in simulation experiments with the low-temperature plasma, infrared irradiation, straw burning, and fume of burning products. It has been shown that the pyrogenic effect has a complex nature, so that worsening of biological parameters depends on temperature, duration of fire episode, intensity of fume, ash impact, and soil moisture. Such integrated effect induced a decrease in microbial biomass by 39%, population of nitrogen-fixating bacteria by 29% versus the control values. The inhibition of dehydrogenase and catalase (oxidoreductase class) was 44–53%; the activity of hydrolase (phosphatase and invertase) was lower (by 16–18%). A maximal effect was recorded for the uppermost soil layer (0–1 сm) as compared to the lower 4–5 сm layer. Microbiological indices went down by 52–56% after placing the sample in the flame of a gas burner for 3 minutes, while soil enzyme activity decreased by 25–26%. For the latter, the duration of flame effect was of special importance; the correlation coefficient for dehydrogenase activity was –0.81; for invertase activity, –0.86; for catalase activity, –0.78; and for phosphatase activity, –0.85 (р < 0.01). Increasing IR irradiation also resulted in growing inhibition of biological indices. Even a minimal impact of fume of straw burning products (3 minutes at temperature 52°С) reliably decreased soil microbiological and biochemical parameters (by 4–19%, р < 0.05). Higher level of impact suppresses the biological activity by 20–30%.