Soil organic matter quantity and quality of land transformed from arable to forest
Authors
Nora POLLÁKOVÁ
Department of Soil Science and Geology, Slovak University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agrobiology
and Food Resources, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovak Republic
Jerzy JONCZAK
Pomeranian University in Słupsk, Department of Geoecology and Geoinformation, 27 Partyzantów,
76-200 Słupsk, Poland
Tímea SZLOVÁKOVÁ
Department of Soil Science and Geology, Slovak University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agrobiology
and Food Resources, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovak Republic
Marek KOLENČÍK
Department of Soil Science and Geology, Slovak University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agrobiology
and Food Resources, Tr. A. Hlinku 2, 949 76 Nitra, Slovak Republic
Comparative studies on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of soil organic matter were studied in arable and afforested in 1964 Stagni-Haplic Luvisol in Arboretum Mlyňany (Slovakia). The studies were conducted at three stands – arable soil located next to Arboretum (control), under thuja trees (Thuja orientalis L.) and under junipers (Juniperus Chinensis L.). Results of the studies showed, that in A horizons, 50 years of thuja and juniper trees growing on formerly arable land, had resulted to the significant (by 69% under thuja and by 126% under juniper) increase of total organic carbon (Cox) compared to control arable land. KMnO4 oxidisable carbon (CL) and mainly hot water-soluble carbon (Chwd) had higher contents in soil under studied trees than on arable land. The conversion of cropland to forest led to lowering of soil organic matter quality, assessed as the ratio of total carbon and nitrogen (Cox/NT), which was in arable soil 10.2, under thuja trees 13.9 and under junipers 12.0. Surprisingly, the quality of humus between examined sites differed only minimally, since the change of humus quality is a long term process.
