Spatiotemporal Changes of Soil Salinization in the Soligorsk Mining Region

Abstract

Analytical data on the distribution of chemical elements with respect to soil combinations as area units of the inventory of the factors of the anthropogenic impact on the soil cover are presented. The identification of soil combinations in the Soligorsk mining region of Belarus is based on the analysis of the morphogenetic soil cover pattern and combines typological and topological approaches within the concept of adaptive landscape farming. The spatiotemporal changes in the parameters of anthropogenic soil salinization on agricultural lands are evaluated using geoinformation tools for data processing and modeling. The qualitative interpolation of agrochemical data over the areas under anthropogenic impact in the Soligorsk region is used as a spatial basis for optimizing land use in large agricultural enterprises. The selection of salt-tolerant crops as a measure to optimize the agricultural use of human-salinized soils and to reduce the ecological risks for the local population is discussed. It is recommended to cultivate sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), lucerne (Medicago), and perennial grasses (timothy (Phleum pretense), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis)) in the zone of the greatest anthropogenic impact.