Specific Features of Chestnut Soils in the Southern Basins of Siberia

Abstract

A long period of freezing and drying of the soil profile and frequent seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations lead to the formation of chestnut soils featuring slightly condensed and developed aliphatic humic acid (HA) chains, which makes the soils unstable. The current environmental condition of chestnut soils confirms this; the area of degraded arable and grazing lands in the Republic of Buryatia is significant. Their location in intermountain basins often results in a high vulnerability to deflation processes, leading to dehumification. This adverse phenomenon is currently amplified by global climate change, which intensifies the aridization rates. The noted complex of factors determines the specific composition of regional phytocoenoses, which are highly ligninoficated and depleted of protein components; this affects the structure of humic substances and determines the number of specific features of the local humus, which is distinct from that in similar soils of other regions.