Abstract-Flora similarity was assessed using com plete floristic lists of five ecotopes in each of four m ounds along the transect from m eadow steppes to desert steppes. It was found that the circum apical similitude of floras is m ore significant than the expositional similitude. Soil analysis in separate ecotopes showed th at reg ular changes in the biogeochem ical features are manifested along the topographic gradient and under the effect of the insolation exposure of slopes in local (m ound) ecosystems. It was noted th at the slopes are char acterized by the m ost abundant steppe vegetation classes in the phytosociological spectrum of m ound ecotopes.
Abstract-Geoarchaeological m ethods were used to study chronosequences of surface soils in the steppe zone and to trace soil evolution during the Late Holocene in northwestern Crimea. It was found that the m orpholog ical and functional "m aturity" of the humus horizons in steppe chernozems of the Late Holocene was reached in about 1600-1800 yrs. After this, their development decelerated irreversibly. The maximum concentration of trace elements accumulated in these horizons in the course of pedogenesis was reached in 1400 yrs. A new m ethod of pedogenetic chronology based on the model chronofunction of the development o f irreversible results of pedogenesis over time is suggested. Original pedochronological data and growth functions-the most suitable m odels for simulating pedogenesis over the past three thousand years-suggest that the development of m orphological features of soil as an organomineral natural body follows growth patterns established for biolog ical systems.
Abstract-The results of long-term studies of chernozem development in anthropogenically disturbed land scapes of the forest-steppe zone are discussed. Parameters characterizing the formation of the humus horizon of chernozems and the rate of this process are presented. Critical points and characteristic times of the formation of humus horizons are determined. The regeneration of soil properties as dependent on the degree of anthropo genic disturbance of chernozems is estimated.
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