Thermal regime of tundra soils under reclamation and restoration of natural vegetation

Abstract

This paper covers the specifics of the temperature regime in reclaimed tundra soils under a sown perennial herb meadow and a restored (secondary) ecosystem as compared to the small-shrub yernik (birch)-willow-moss and shrub yernik-willow-moss tundra types. The taxonomic position of the anthropogenic soils and those of the secondary (restored) biogeocenosis is discussed as related to the transformation or regeneration of the biotic and thermal components of the biogeocenosis. The soil development causes profound changes in the freezing-thawing regime, which gives grounds to distinguish the developed soils as an individual soil type.