Issues related to classification of garden soils from the urban area of Toruń, Poland

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the city area of Toruń is dominated by anthropogenic and technogenic soils – developed by humans or significantly altered, mainly disturbed in terms of morphology and chemical and physical properties. This study is a continuation of research on the soil cover of the city. The aim of the presented study is to assess extent of garden soils in the city and characterize its properties on the base of five soil profiles in four exemplary gardens in Toruń and evaluate if they meet the classification criteria for Hortic Anthrosols according to World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resources. Within the administrative boundaries of the city, 66 allotment gardens are located which totally cover an area of more than 300 ha. They occupy 3% of the city area. None of the studied mineral surface horizons meets the criteria for hortic horizon according to WRB 2015, due to too low phosphorus content. Other hortic criteria were fulfilled. The research on classification issues of garden soils should be continued on larger scale to evaluate if WRB criteria are not too strict taking into account the features of most typical, few decade-old garden soils.