Abstract
A close correlation between the degree of aridity and biological properties of soils in the south of Russia is detected. The number of microarthropods and microorganisms, humus content, enzyme activity, and the integral index of biological state (IIBS) of the soils decreases with the increase in aridity in the following sequence: black earth → chestnut soils → light chestnut soils → brown desert-steppe soil. The IIBS variation range for superficial horizons is 41%. The difference among the soils increases when the biological activity of the entire soil profile is taken into account. In this case, the difference in IIBS among the soils increases to 75%.
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Original Russian Text © K.Sh. Kazeev, Yu.S. Kozun’, S.I. Kolesnikov, 2015, published in Sibirskii Ekologicheskii Zhurnal, 2015, No. 1, pp. 112–120.
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Kazeev, K.S., Kozun’, Y.S. & Kolesnikov, S.I. Applying an integral index to evaluate the spatial differentiation of biological properties of soils along an aridity gradient in the south of Russia. Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 8, 91–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515010060
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425515010060