Soils and chemical cycling of elements after land use changes (case studies)

• Authors: Andrzej Harasimiuk

Abstracts

EN

The process of abandonment of arable land seems to be one of the main factors of changes in landscape and soil properties. This problem occurs on nearly 10% of arable land in Poland. The natural aspect of transformation is connected with the entrance of birch trees on uncultivated land and the anthropogenic aspect is associated with pine plantations. In the beginning, the appearance of trees on the former arable land changes soil properties because soil (and plant) is the most dependent component of the natural environment. In this paper, the role of birch and pine was analysed in comparison to arable land, abandoned land without trees and birch tree communities of different age. After the entrance of birch trees, soil profiles were enriched in nitrogen and elements such as aluminium, iron, cadmium, lead, cobalt, zinc, which were moved from the sod horizon of soil or come from the atmospheric load and were accumulated in litter or the humus horizon. Compared to arable land, some elements, e.g. calcium had lower concentration under birch trees. In comparison to cultivated land, birch and pine trees made the soil environment more natural, as expressed in the chemical properties of soil.

Keywords

EN

abandoned land; reforestation; plant and soil relationship

• Publisher: Wydział Geografii i Studiów Regionalnych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 13
• Pages: 145-151

Dates

published

2008

Contributors

author

Andrzej Harasimiuk

translator

Małgorzata Mikulska

References

• Bernadzki E., Kowalski M., 1983, Brzoza na gruntach porolnych [Birch in Former Farmlands; in Polish], Sylwan, 127, 12.
• Grzywacz A., 2002, Problemy zalesień w wielofunkcyjnym rozwoju obszarów wiejskich [Afforestation Issues in the Multifunctional Development of Rural Areas; in Polish]. Post. Nauk Roln., 3; 15.
• Hrdlicka P., Kula E. 2001, Macroelement content in leaves of birch, Journal of Forest Science, 47, 3.
• Rutkowski P., 2001, Problemy doboru składu gatunkowego do zalesień gruntów porolnych [Problems of Species Selection in Afforestation of Former Farmlands; in Polish], Roczniki Akademii Rolniczej w Poznaniu, Leśnictwo, 39, 233.
• Szujecki A., 1996, Ekologiczne aspekty odtwarzania lasu na gruntach porolnych [Ecological Aspects of Forest Regeneration in Former Farmlands; in Polish], Prace IBL, series B, 27.

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

2029801