WORLD REFERENCE BASE FOR SOIL RESOURCES (WRB): FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME

Abstract

Purpose. The WRB is a soil classification system for naming soils and creating soil map legends. The purpose of the article was to reveal the basic provisions of the new WRB version and to compare the changes of the system during its existence.Data & Methods. The comparative analysis of three editions of WRB (1998, 2006, 2014) have been used.Results. The first edition of WRB had 30 Reference Soil Groups (RSG), the second – 32 (added Technosols and Stagnosols); in the latest edition the change is to replace Albeluvisols by Retisols.The key algorithm, quantity, names and characteristics of diagnostic properties and materials have changed. 40 diagnostic horizons have been defined in 1998, 39 – in 2006, 37 – in 2014.In 1998 allowed using a maximum of two lower-level units that are in front of RSG. The subsequent versions of WRB do not have limitations on the number of possible qualifiers in the soil name. In the first edition each RSG has a list of lower level; their priority defined by the user. In 2006 the qualifiers are divided into prefixes (in front of RSG) and suffixes (between brackets after the RSG name, are separated from each other by commas), in 2014 – principal (ranked for every RSG, in order of relevance) and supplementary (listed alphabetically). Ukrainian soil scientists should be known the basic provisions, new edition of WRB for international collaboration and in the future for to create a new soils classification of Ukraine.