The article presents the dynamics of soil freezing and thawing in the agroforestry landscape of the dry-steppe zone. These processes in winters with unstable snow cover have their own characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the character of soil freezing and thawing in the agroforestry landscape under conditions of low snowfall winters. Observations were carried out in the winter period of 2020–2021 at the existing runoff-erosion research station in Volgograd. The dynamics of soil freezing and thawing was studied using Danilin freeze-thaw meters installed in the field and in the center of a four-row forest belt. Simultaneously, snow cover height was measured in triplicate with a snow measuring rod. The weather conditions were characterized by alternating thaws, which promoted snow cover melt, and frosts, which increased the depth of soil freezing. The formation of a 10-15 cm snow cover did not affect soil freezing. In the absence of snow on the background of a brief thaw, the lower boundary of the frozen layer in the field decreased by 11 cm compared to the forest belt, which even in the leafless state affected the inflow of solar thermal energy. Average freezing at the end of winter was 85 cm in the field and 67 cm in the forest belt. Thawing in the field was faster. During the first two weeks, the rate of soil thawing averaged 2.3 cm/day in the field and 1.3 cm/day in the forest belt. After that, the depth of freezing in the whole agroforestry landscape became equal. During the next two weeks, the thawing rate doubled. After complete soil thawing in the field in the forest belt, the thickness of the frozen layer averaged 32 cm.
In semi-arid climate conditions, where farming is complicated by a lack of atmospheric moisture, the preservation of snow in an agroforest landscape serves as an additional source of moisture for the growth and development of tree and shrub vegetation. The paper investigates the role of forest belts of a combined structure on the characteristics of snow deposition depending on different patterns of shrub placement (along the top edge, along the lower edge, on both sides). The results of the conducted snow surveys show that experimental sites with shrubs along the top edge are characterized by the highest level of snow accumulation both in the forest belt and in the adjacent field. The snow-retaining function in the forest belt zone is weaker in the presence of shrubs on both sides. It has been established that the values of snow density increase with approaching the forest stand. The highest values were recorded in the forest belt with shrubs along the top edge (up to 0.5 g cm-3). The accumulation of snow and its density eventually affected the amount of snow reserves. The highest values of snow reserves were observed in the forest belt with shrubs along the top edge with a row width of up to 1 m. This contributed to the accumulation of 82-203 mm of snow in the forest belt area (at 43 mm of snowfall). Shrub placement along the lower edge provoked a loss of moisture in the forest belt itself, which made this pattern ineffective. The results obtained can be applied in the design of protective forest belts in the areas with insufficient moisture.
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