Soils of the Pavlovsk Park (Saint Petersburg)

Abstract

Soils of the Pavlovsk Park–the largest landscape park in Europe—have been studied, and large-scale mapping of the soil cover of the main areas of the park has been performed. Limnoglacial and alluvial deposits are the predominant soil forming materials in the park. Iron-illuvial soddy podzols (Umbric Podzols) predominate among the natural soils of the park, and gray-humus stratozems (Hortic Anthrosols) underlain by the limnoglacial deposits and/or by the buried soils are the main human-transformed soils of the park. The areas of urbostratozems are mainly confined to the Slavyanka River valley. The thickness of human-created stratified layer of stratozems and urbostratozems varied from 40 to 120 cm. Soils with an acid reaction predominate in the park, except for the Slavyanka River valley, where most of the soils have a neutral or an alkaline reaction. The organic carbon content in topsoils ranges from 0.9 to 4.4%. The majority of the park soils are characterized by the low content of available potassium and by the considerable variability in the content of available phosphorus. The results of the soil survey may serve as the basis for further monitoring studies and be helpful in the development of measures for the conservation and restoration of the tree stands in the park.