Impacts of historical land use on forest soil properties in the hemiboreal forest zone, Latvia

Abstract

Our study investigated soil morphology, genesis, and properties in soil profiles with different land-use history. Charcoal radiocarbon dating and digitized topographical, military and orthophoto maps from different years were used to identify land-use history. For identified land-use trajectories, soils were described, soil samples were collected, and physical and chemical analyses were performed. The history of land use, farming practices and the vegetation composition of the forest ecosystem affected soil genesis and the physical and chemical properties of soil. The abandonment and afforestation coniferous forest stands land contributed to the decrease of soil base saturation in the topsoil and soil acidification. Non-intensive agricultural practice using earthmanure and the overgrew of agricultural lands with deciduous trees increased the content of carbon and nitrogen and slowed down soil acidification.