Variation of Eutric Cambisols Chemical Properties Based on Altitudinal and Geomorphologic Zoning

Abstract

This study of the variation process of the chemical properties of eutric Cambisols on altitudinal levels, forest station subclasses and geomorphologic units, was based on soil analyses from 847 soil horizons gathered from 379 profiles. These profiles were distributed on Romania's entire forest area. The average values of the eutric Cambisol's chemical properties fit were within the known limits for this type of soil, but there were slight variations based on altitude, forest station subclass and geomorphologic units. As expected, the most chemical properties decrease according to the altitudinal levels, from altitudes of over 900 metres to altitudes of under 300 metres. At the level of the Ao horizon, the pH has a value of 5.78 (the soils are slightly acid) at altitudes lower than 300 m and of 5.03 (the soils are mildly acid) at altitudes higher than 900 m.The saturation degree basis is 72% (the soils are mezobasic towards eubasic) at altitudes lower than 300 m, and 56.7% (the soils are mezobasic towards oligomezobasic) at altitudes higher than 900 m. The exchangeable hydrogen decreases from 16.95 me/100 g soil at altitudes higher than 900 m to 9.01 me/100 g soil at altitudes lower than 300 m.

Monitoring of soil moisture in Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites of Romanian Carpathians

“…This soil type is the third most common soil type of Romanian forests, covering a total area of 869.909 ha (Dincă et al 2014). The characteristics of these soils vary with elevation (Spârchez et al 2017), and average organic carbon levels resulted in average organic carbon stock values (186 t/ha) in Romania (Dincă et al 2015). For each sensor that measures soil moisture, an investigation of seasonal patterns was performed to analyze any temporal changes between them.…”

Influence of Soil Genesis Factors on Gurghiu Mountain Forest Soils’ Physical and Chemical Properties

“…Average SH decreased on the profile from 20 in horizon A (first 10 cm) to 9 me/100 g soil in horizon B (90 cm in depth) (Figure 2d). For eutric Cambisols from the Eastern Carpathians, SH values reached 14.834 me/100 g soil [24].…”

“…In contrast, the soils were high to very high acidic (pH 4.0-5.0) in horizon A and low to moderate acidic (pH 5.1-6.2) in horizon B (Figure 2f). In the B horizon of the cambisols from the mixed mountain stands from the Eastern Carpathians, the average pH values of 4.88 and V values of 70.78% were found [24]. The reduction in pH was also observed in relation to altitude [6], [10], [29].…”

“…Nitrogen content in the soil decreases with altitude and is closely related with site quality and plant growth [15], [30]. Furthermore, soil pH is negatively related with altitude [6], [10], [24]. Thus, a high pH level corresponding to low altitudes can be correlated with the increase of microbial biomass and bacterial diversity [3].…”