Principles and Features of the Compilation of the Red Data Book of Soils of the Steppe Regions (on Example of the Rostov Oblast)

Abstract

Compilation of the Red Data Books of soils for the subjects of the Russian Federation will provide for conservation of natural diversity of soils in regions significantly modified by management activities. When compiling the list of the reference soils it is proposed to focus primarily on soils, which are typical for provinces of soil-ecological zoning and to identify reference soils within protected nature areas. The research of virgin soils included in the Red Data Book of the Rostov oblast showed that their characteristics can be used as reference in the course of soil monitoring. The maintenance of the fallow regime in soils promotes restoration of their humus condition. In virgin and fallow chernozems, the weighted mean humus content (for a 25-cm thick soil layer) is by 0.7–3.0% greater than that in the arable analogs. It is demonstrated that the available normative documents are not applicable for assessing the degree of pollution of regional soils with heavy metals. To fulfil this task it is proposed to use regional background concentrations established for virgin soils with similar typology and textural composition, while taking into account natural variation of characteristics.