Parallel successions of microbiomass and oribatid mites in the soil during the transformation of the forest ecosystem into an agrocenosis in the south of Western Siberia

Abstract

The analysis of the state of the destructive block in gray forest soils in the Novosibirsk region was carried out. Forest, meadow under pasture and vegetable agrocenosis were selected as the objects of the study. Soil-zoological and soil-microbiological methods were used in the work. The biomass of soil microorganisms, basal respiration, metabolic coefficient, species richness and the total numbers of oribatid mites in soils were studied. Strong changes in the studied parameters in soils with different agricultural uses, compared with the soil under the forest, are demonstrated. With the deforestation and the transformation of the formed grass ecosystem to pasture, all the studied indicators decrease. When the grass ecosystem is plowed and the soil is used for a long time as an agrocenosis, a further decrease in microbiological and zoological indexes is observed. The conclusion is made about the possibility of applying the methods used in the practice of ecological monitoring of gray forest soils is made.