Humus specificity in ordinary chernozems of the Kammennaya Steppe area

Abstract

tion of organic substances in the soil profile. In fact, this is in agreement with the views of Dokuchaev, who considered both processes to be important in the genesis of chernozems [1]. Information about changes in the properties of ordinary chernozems of the Kamennaya Steppe area under the impact of artificially planted forest vegetation, anthropogenic loads, and climate changes in the past century is rather ambiguous. In particular, this concerns data on changes in the humus status of ordinary chernozems. In this context, the study of the group and fractional composition of soil humus and the content of labile organic matter attracts special attention. Data on the amphiphilic properties of humic substances of ordinary chernozems are important for the proper assessment of the character of hydromorphism in chernozemic soils developed under steppe vegetation on the abandoned fields, under cropland, and under shelterbelts.