Chernozem (czarnoziem) – soil of the year 2019 in Poland. Origin, classification and use of chernozems in Poland

Abstract

The Soil Science Society of Poland has elected chernozem to be the Soil of the Year 2019. Although chernozems cover less than 2% of Poland, they have high importance for agriculture due to their productivity and play a specific scientific role for understanding of soil development and functioning in an environment. Chernozems are also crucial for the reconstruction of Neolithic agriculture development and human impacts on soil and landscape. This introductory paper presents (a) a specific definition of chernozem in Poland, connected with a separate distinction of black earths and colluvial chernozemic soils; (b) a review of the present and former classification schemes for chernozems in Poland and their correlation with international soil classification systems (WRB and Soil Taxonomy); (c) the spatial distribution of chernozems in Poland, their agricultural evaluation and threats for chernozems’ quality and future existence related to intense land use.

Suitability of World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) to describe and classify chernozemic soils in Central Europe

“…2). These single examples correspond well with numerous available characteristics of chernozems in those countries (Hraško 1966;Turski 1985;Skalský et Novák et al 2014Novák et al , 2018aŠimanský et al 2016;Vyslou•ilová et al 2016;Jonczak et al 2017;£abaz et al 2018 and support a common opinion, that chernozems existing under more continental climate are more enriched in humus and less leached compared to chernozems existing under more humid climate; the latter therefore considered a "degraded" variety (Borowiec 1968;Eckmeier et al 2007;Kaba-³a 2019). The differences between chernozems along a transect Hungary -Slovakia -Poland are similar, to some extent, to zonal differentiation of these soils from more southern steppe to more northern foreststeppe zones in European Russia (Afanasyeva 1966;Khitrov et al 2019) or in Ukraine (Pozniak and Havrysh 2019).…”

“…In general, there is continuous discussion on the extent of "zonal" chernozems in Europe and the status Suitability of WRB to describe and classify chernozemic soils in Central Europe of "extrazonal" chernozems, considered to be "degraded" compared to "typical" zonal chernozems. Local classification systems may have tendency to "preserve" various chernozemic soils under the name of chernozem, even if their properties differ from these of "typical" zonal chernozems (Šály et al 2000;Nìmeèek et al 2011;Gerasimova and Khitrov 2012;Kaba³a et al 2019). To keep the soil names and maps understandable to international society it is necessary to draw the minimum requirements for chernozems, a set of absolutely necessary properties, which guarantee the uniqueness of chernozems among other chernozemic soils (Skalský et al 2009;Zádorová and Peníñek 2011).…”

Morphological diversity of chernozemic soils in south-western Poland

“…Regardless of the differences in morphological and physicochemical properties, humus horizons in all chernozemic soils are very rich in organic matter. As very fertile soils, mainly due to high content and stability of organic matter, chernozems have been valued by farmers for millennia, and, more recently, have become of interest to scientists in various fields of study (Drewnik and ¯y³a 2019, Kaba³a 2019. Chernozemic soils present in the Silesian Lowland and the Sudeten Foreland (SW Poland) have been of interest to farmers since the beginning of human settlement in the area, confirmed by common BEATA £ABAZ*, CEZARY KABA£A, MICHA£ DUDEK, JAROS£AW WAROSZEWSKI Neolithic settlements and tombs (Kulczycka-Leciejowiczowa 1993, Kaba³a et al 2019b.…”

“…Since the soils under consideration are within the Central European loess and chernozem belt (Ukraine -southern Poland Saxony), one can presume they have a common chernozemic origin, at least in terms of the formation of thick humus horizons (Labaz et al 2018). However, these soils are classified to various units both in Polish soil Classification (Kaba³a 2019, Kaba³a et al 2019a and WRB (IUSS Working Group WRB 2015).…”

Chernozems of Ukraine: past, present and future perspectives

“…In several countries, i.e. Germany and Austria (2005), Estonia (2015) and Poland (2019)chernozem was declared the "Soil of the Year" (Altermann et al 2005;Ktlli and Tamm 2015;Kaba³a 2019). On this occasion, Austrian post has issued a stamp with the image of chernozem.…”