Trace elements in the system “soil-plants” and optimization of their use in agrocenoses of the Omsk Irtysh Land

The data on the content and reserves of trace elements (Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Mo, B) in soils, reveals patterns of their distribution and quantitative characteristics of relationships in the “soil-plants” system in agrocenoses of the Omsk Irtysh Land have been systematized in the article. The assessment of trace elements in soils and plants has been carried out from the ecological and agrochemical positions. The peculiarities of the intake and accumulation of trace elements in plants depending on zonal soil and climatic conditions have been revealed. Indicators for evaluating the potential of trace elements entering plants have been proposed, and its comparison for diff erent trace elements in the “soil-microfertilizerplant” system has been given. The use of this indicator in calculating and normalizing fertilizer doses and predicting the accumulation of trace elements in plants has been justified. The regularities of the distribution and shape of boron in diff erent types of soils of saline complexes have been studied. For the fi rst time a comprehensive assessment of the effect of high boron concentrations on crop productivity was carried out. A system of indicators for diagnosing the toxic eff ect of the element on plants and a scale of their borostability has been developed. The factors affecting the intake of boron in plants and their resistance to excess of the element have been revealed. Quantitative parameters of the eff ect of chemical reclamation on the boron content in the “soil-meliorant-plants” system have been obtained. The scheme of soil-geochemical zoning of the territory of the Omsk region reflecting the availability of trace elements in the soil has been developed. New data on the availability of trace elements in the main arable soils of the surveyed territory have been presented. The values of optimal levels of trace elements for agricultural crops were corrected. The economic and bioenergetic effi ciency of methods for optimizing plant nutrition with trace elements under the environments of agrocenoses of the Omsk Irtysh Land have been revealed.

Maximum humus horizon thickness as a criterion for identifying the soil standards of the plain Сrimea

When identifying the main categories of soil in the structure of the regional Red Book of soils, it is necessary to focus on typical soils formed taking into account the zonal soil-ecological conditions of the territory. The criterion for the extraction of soil standards can be the initial, pre-agrogenic thickness of the humus horizon, which fully realizes the soil-forming potential of natural factors of climax full-profile soils. But the search for such sites is associated with a number of methodological difficulties. A way out of this situation can be a mathematical modeling of the formation of the humus horizon of soils, which allows you to quantify the legitimacy of the allocation of soil standards in the structure of the Red Book of soils of the Crimea. The proposed method allows going to the cartographic models for determining the maximum thickness of the humus horizon. Analysis of the presented material allows asserting that in the majority of modern soils of agricultural lands of the Crimea, the profiles are destroyed by 30% compared with the calculated maximum thickness of the humus horizon, which takes into account the zonal soil formation processes. That predetermines the search for soil standards only in areas that did not function previously in agrogenic conditions, most often, these are protected areas that take into account the peculiarities of the zonal process of soil formation.

Ukrainian Agronomic Soil Science: Textbook. In 2 parts; editor M.I. Polupan. Part 1: Historical stages of development. Soil formation factors. Regularities of soil formation on an ecological-genetic parametric systemic basis, their agronomic properties, and fertility

The textbook is devoted to the soil resources of Ukraine, as an indispensable natural and economic potential for use in agricultural production to meet the needs of society with food products. Their great diversity is shown due to the component composition regarding the zonation of the ecological and genetic status of soils. The soil resources are shown to have a functionally systematic relationship between ecological conditions of formation, agronomic properties, and their productive capacity. Due to a large amount of information, the textbook is conventionally divided into two parts. The first part presents the historical stages of the formation of agro-soil science as fundamental science, parametric systematic development of zonal soil formation and formation of soil properties depending on their genetic nature, the quantitative functional relationship between modes and processes of soil formation, its types, fertility of soils as their anthropogenic biological property, factors of formation, its kinds, methods of determination and parameters of productive capacity of basic agricultural crops. The textbook "Ukrainian Agronomic Soil Science" presents basic information about soil resources of Ukraine in the aspect of agronomic orientation regarding their zonally determined ecological-genetic status of soils, their properties, productive capacity, protection, increase of fertility, and intelligent use. It is recommended for the preparation of bachelors in agronomic higher education institutions of II–IV levels of accreditation in the field of «Agronomy», as well as for biological, geographical and other higher educational establishments, graduate students and a wide range of specialists related to the land cadastre of Ukraine, fertility assessment rational use of soils.

Enzyme Activity as an Indicator of Soil Quality in Sterile Waste Heap

Recent research reports that enzymes accumulated in soil participate in the cycles of elements and contribute to soil fertility. The purpose of this paper is to determine the enzymatic activity and the humus content in the materials from waste heap in order to assess their fertility and to establish possible re-cultivation technologies. The investigations were carried out on materials from the Pesteana North waste heap. In order to achieve this, the activity of catalase, invertase, urease and phosphatase activity was determined in different plots of the heap during the summer and as a control the zonal soil was used. Enzymatic activities were colorimetric assay using appropriate substrates. The obtained results show a large variation in the values of the determined enzymatic activities. In all investigated plots, all enzymes are found to be lower than those determined for the zonal soil. A strong positive correlation is observed between enzymatic activities of catalase and invertase and the accumulation of humus which demonstrates that enzymatic activities has a useful tool for studying the evolution of heap materials to agricultural soils.

THE USE OF SITE IN FOREST MANAGEMENT

Total site is that combination of environmental features with which the forest manager must deal in the growing and harvesting of forest crops. It is not enough to know the kind of regional climate, the zonal soil type and the regional cover type. The forester must know the significant features of each local area with which he has to deal.It is essential to know the variations in soil profile and forest communities at every stage in forest succession for each specific landform and climatic region. It is also necessary to know the effect of man's activities upon forest succession and soil characteristics. For the actual management of any specific forest area, a forester requires a knowledge of total site, not merely a classification of site.It is hoped that the proposed site classification may provide a scientific regional framework into which may be placed those significant site features with which a practicing forester must deal. The objectives of this site classification are twofold:1. To provide a systematic approach to forest description and site evaluation of local areas.2. To provide a framework to facilitate the application of results of forest research and practice to other areas.