Soil evolution in relation to modern climate warming

• Main Authors: O. I. Khudyakov, O. V. Reshotkin
• Format: Dataset
• Language: Russian
• Published: Theoretical and Applied Ecology 2017
• Subjects: soil evolution; soil climate; climate normal; climate warming; taiga; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25750/1995-4301-2017-2-038-043; http://envjournal.ru/ari/v2017/v2/17207.pdf

In connection with warming, the current state of the climate relative to the climate normal is analyzed. In quantitative terms, the climate normal is a parameter of any characteristic of climate of atmosphere or soil sampled from 1961 to 1990 in a daily, ten-day, monthly, seasonal, or annual cycle. Currently, climatic changes occur on global, continental and regional level. On the global level, especially strong climate warming has been observed over the past 100 years: the average ten-year air temperature increased, as compared with its lowest (1891–1900), by 1.2–1.3 о С by now. Modern warming has affected all continents, while the air temperature on the continents has increased, as compared with the climate normal, by 0.3–1.5 о С. Analysis of climate change on the regional level was carried out during the period of experimental observations (1921–2015) by the example of soils in the zonal range of the European part of Russia: peat gleyzems of forest-tundra, podzolic soils of middle taiga, sod-podzolic soils of southern taiga, and light-chestnut soils of dry steppe. It is established that each soil is characterized by a certain normal of climatic parameters. For zonal series of soils under research it was shown that the current climate warming is accompanied by the increase in air and soil temperature and, consequently, by displacement of soil-climatic zones in the north. The current climate warming, according to the temperature parameter, has become commensurate with the climatic optimum of the Holocene. Favorable conditions are created for promotion of forest communities to the north, which may lead to development of a podzolic type of soil formation in forest-occupied tundra territories. For forest soils of the northern and middle taiga, under conditions of the current climate warming, soil formation will be accompanied by weakening podzolic soil and intensification of sod soil-forming processes. One can also expect increase in aridization and salinization of chestnut soils of dry steppes.