Changes in the content and composition of humus in the sandy loamy soddy-podzolic soil in a long-term liming experiment

Abstract

The effect of liming on organic matter in sandy loamy soddy-podzolic soil was studied. The study was performed on samples taken from the 50-year-long experiment established by Prof. Kornilov in 1957. It was shown that liming had almost no effect on the total humus content in the soil. The humus composition was studied using two fractionation methods of the humus substances by the Ponomareva-Plotnikova procedure. The regrouping of the humus fractions occurred due to the changes in the mobility of soil mineral components, which involved a regular increase in the content of the Ca-bound fraction of humic acids (HA-2) at the expense of the HA-1 fraction bound to the mobile forms of R2O3 reliable at the lime rates equivalent to the total acidity and higher. The levels of the stabilization of the different HA fractions were considered, as well as the stability of the changes in the humus composition during 50 years.