Holubík O., Podrázský V., Vopravil J., Khel T., Remeš J. (2014): Effect of agricultural lands afforestation and tree species composition on the soil reaction, total organic carbon and nitrogen content in the uppermost mineral soil profile. Soil & Water Res.,

Present-day agriculture faces multiple challenges, including ongoing climate change that is at many locations combined with soil degradation. The deterioration of soil properties through unsustainable agricultural practices and changing climate could lead to a fall in productivity beyond the point of no return with devastating effects on ecosystem services in large areas. Identifying areas with the highest hazard levels should therefore be a top priority. The key hazards for agricultural land in the Czech Republic considered in this study include the occurrence of water stress in the topsoil layer during both the first and second half of the growing season, the proportion of fast-drying soils, the risk of sheet and ephemeral gully erosion and the risk of local floods originating primarily from agricultural land. The results clearly marked regions where primary attention should be given to reduce the level of the hazards and/or to increase cropping capacity. These regions were found to be concentrated in the southeastern and northwestern lowland areas. Typical areas with the highest hazard levels were identified: regions with low precipitation and a high proportion of soils with a degraded or naturally occurring low water-holding capacity, and those with steeper than average slopes and terrain configurations in relatively large catchment areas that have urbanized countryside landscapes located at their lower elevations. Despite some limitations, the methods presented in this paper can be applied generally as the first step in developing strategies for efficient reduction of hazard levels.

In the Czech Republic, the afforestation of agricultural land has been supported by providing subsidies from the government and the European Union. Afforestation of less-productive agricultural land provides many benefits including carbon sequestration, soil erosion control, biodiversity, water retention, cooling, social benefits, decreasing noise and light pollution, increasing air quality, wind speed reduction, oxygen production, wood production and non-wood products. In some aspects, it is possible to produce wood of the same quality on former agricultural land compared to permanent forest land. In this study, we attempted to find out the course of temperatures and volumetric water content as well as some other physical soil properties (at depths of 20, 40 and 60 cm) 9 years after the afforestation of agricultural land (warm, mild dry region of the Czech Republic) with a mixture of broadleaved tree species (Quercus robur L., Quercus rubra L. and Acer platanoides L.) or monospecific Pinus sylvestris L. stand; the study was performed in the period from April to the beginning of November 2020. Concerning the studied physical soil properties, the value of bulk density was higher (and total porosity lower) at a depth of 20 cm in Pinus sylvestris L. compared with agricultural land or the mixture of broadleaves; the water stability of soil aggregates was higher after the afforestation with the mixture of broadleaves. The temperature was lower in the soil of afforested plots (at all studied depths) compared to the agriculturally used land. Differences in rainfall interception, transpiration, soil<br />(and forest floor) properties and other factors could influence the obtained values of water content in the soil of the studied plots. The average volumetric water contents were the highest in the plots with Scots pine (depth of 20 cm) and broadleaves (depth of 40 cm), and on the control plot (depth of 60 cm). The volumetric water content at a soil depth of 20 cm was not significantly (P &gt; 0.05) different when the plot with Scots pine and agriculturally used land were compared. In all other cases and depths, the differences between plots were significant (P &lt; 0.05).

vopravil J., Podrázský v., Khel t., holubík o., vacek s.: Effect of afforestation of agricultural soils and tree species composition on soil physical characteristics changes. Ekológia (Bratislava), vol. 33, no. 1, p. 67-80, 2014. This paper deals with the evaluation of the effect of afforestation of previously arable land to soil characteristics changes. one of the main aims was to evaluate the effects of each forest species on the soil structure quality after afforestation. soil samples were taken at two climatically distinct subregions within the czech republic. Based on the different site conditions, two study sites were chosen at each locality for a total of four research sites. detailed soil survey and basic forest stand inventories were conducted at all four sites. The first locality was established in the rychnov nad Kněžnou district in the Protected landscape area of the orlické mountains (soil type a haplic cambisol). The second locality was established in the Prague-East district (soil type a haplic cambisol and a haplic stagnosol). afforestation had a positive influence on the soil physical characteristics which are important for the maintenance of soil stability. Forest cover has a major influence on increasing the soil porosity, by decreasing the reduced bulk density and increasing capillary and gravitational pores, which is crucial. afforestation was also found to be positively related to increases in soil organic matter content in different forms, both stable and unstable, and tendency of considerable soil organic matter accumulation not only in the layer of surface humus but also in the entire soil profiles of the research sites. The main contributor to soil improvement after afforestation is the formation of stable soil aggregates. This is typical also for spruce and pine cover.

Abstract:In the territory of the Czech Republic there are more than 50% of agricultural soils exposed to water erosion; it is a very urgent problem both at present and for the future. It must be solved now when there is still something to be protected. It is rather complicated to describe the soil properties in terms of soil susceptibility to water erosion because it is a complex relation in which many factors participate. For the complex evaluation of all main factors participating in erosion origination it is possible to apply the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). It consists of six factors interacting with each other and participating in the origination of soil erosion. One of these factors is the soil erodibility factor (K-factor), the revision of which for soil conditions of the CR is the subject of this study. In total ca. 5000 soil pits from the whole territory of the country were processed and evaluated in detail. The main results of this study are K-factor values (means and variances) for the soil types, subtypes and varieties (represented in the database) according to the Taxonomic Classification System of Soils of the Czech Republic.