Floodplain forest soil series along the naturally wandering gravel-bed river in temperate submontane altitudes

Abstract

Forest soil series classification is a fundamental approach for evaluating relationships between site conditions and vegetation. This study focused on the characteristics of soil conditions in a floodplain temperate forest through the classification of chemical and hydrophysical properties into trophic and hydric series using a geobiocoenological approach. The characteristics were found on fluvial landforms (FLs) in the natural outer Carpathian gravel-carrying floodplain along the Morávka River (336–383 m a.s.l., Czech Republic). The soil condition series was evaluated through analysis of variance and discriminant analysis. The FLs clearly divide the soil series. The total separability of the trophic series was 84 %, whereas that of the hydric series was 72 %. The separabilities of soil chemical properties were 66–81 % among the FLs, although hydrophysical properties distinguished them only with 41–64 % accuracy. The bar soil series appeared to be alkaline and hydrically limited, in contrast to the terraces. The active floodplain appeared to be alkaline on<68 % of the area, whereas terraces were mesotrophically-nitrophilous to mesotrophic. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the base saturation and cation exchange capacity suggests soil development intensity on the FLs. Thus, we conclude that the transients between the bar and terrace soil series indicate the differentiation of site conditions for floodplain vegetation development.