Assessing the vegetation history of European chernozems through qualitative near infrared spectroscopy

0520119 - ARÚ 2020 RIV FR eng J - Journal Article
Strouhalová, Barbora - Ertlen, D. - Šefrna, L. - Novák, T. J. - Virágh, K. - Schwartz, D.
Assessing the vegetation history of European chernozems through qualitative near infrared spectroscopy.
Quaternaire. Roč. 30, č. 3 (2019), s. 227-241. ISSN 1142-2904
Institutional support: RVO:67985912
Keywords : chernozem * near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) * Holocene * paleopedology
OECD category: Soil science
Impact factor: 0.412, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access with time embargo
https://journals.openedition.org/quaternaire/12101

Chernozems are considered to be typical soils of continental steppe environments. Nonetheless, they exist in many areas in Central Europe, where the climate is convenient for the growth of trees and forest vegetation. Qualitative near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was proven to be an innovative method to discover the vegetational origin of soil organic matter (SOM). In our study, we developed a special NIRS reference library for chernozems and soils on loess that is based on two reference groups: soils under grassland and soils under woodland. In order to explore the palaeoenvironmental history in Central Europe, we applied the reference library on a set of 23 sites of European chernozems. We concluded that the majority of the examined chernozems have a grassland past, but some of them had also existed under woodland. The chernozems, which are currently under woodland, have a grassland past. Landscape management is a crucial factor for the pedogenesis of chernozems in Central Europe since the Neolithic.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0304871