Forest ecosystems and their impact on soil organic matter content on former agricultural locations in Vojvodina Region
Miljan Samardžić1, Jovica Vasin2, Igor Jajić1, Ivan Vasenev3, Irina Andreeva3 & Dragana Latković1
1Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia 2Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia 3Faculty of Pedology, Agrochemistry and Ecology, RTSAU, Moscow, Russian Federation
Vojvodina is the main agricultural region of Serbia, and it is under heavy anthropogenic pressure. Land use change from natural steppe to agriculture is acute problem in chernozemic region of Vojvodina, which represents 60% of the area. Changes in soil organic matter (SOM) amount, resulting from switching from natural to agroecosystems on Vojvodina’s chernozem were thoroughly researched, shoving disturbing trend of decreased amount of SOM in agroecosystems (up to 46,1%). In purpose to mitigate windage, forests ecosystems, consisted primarily from Robinia pseudoacacia, were formed on the former agricultural locations. Goal of our research was to determine usability of forest ecosystems as carbon sinks and remediator of SOM content in Vojvodina’s chernozem.. In that purpose we’ve sampled soil from natural reserve Čarnok, agricultural locations immediately near natural reserve (Carnex T-49, Čerevićke livade) and on locations under forest ecosystems as near to the agricultural locations (Provalije, Čerevićke livade).
Work on the project took place in two phases: field survey with sampling and laboratory analyses.
Field survey and collection of soil samples was performed in July 2016. Samples were taken by mean the agrochemical probe from the surface layer of the soil to a depth of 30 cm. The content of humus in the soil was determined by oxidation of soil organic matter with K2Cr2O7.
Mean distance between locations and natural reserve was 6 km.
Results showed that humus content on agricultural areas (3,47% and 2.46% respectfully) was significantly lower than in natural reserve (5.33%), Forest ecosystems, on the contrary, tend to increase the content of organic matter in the soil (4,01% and 3,62% respectfully).
Researched forest ecosystems are formed on former agricultural land, and it is evident that they are currently engaged in sequestration of carbon and are remediating SOM content. Results of the research showed that the humus content in forest ecosystems on Vojvodina’s chernozem has increased significantly, which should be taken into account when planning a strategy towards carbon sequestration and soil organic matter content remediation on the chernozem soils in Vojvodina region.