Comparative Evaluation of the Sandy Soils of Pine Forests in Ukraine

Abstract

One of the strategic goals of Ukraine’s forestry sector is to increase the forest cover to 20%. This means afforestation of about 2.5 million hectares of land. The first choice would be unproductive and degraded lands, including Umbric albic podzols and Leptic podzols on sandlands that can, nevertheless, support productive pine forests. Comparative analysis of their attributes shows that, although the soils are different in genesis and zonal origin, their forest potential is similar. Where there is enough moisture, soils with a clay content (d < 0.01 mm) of less than 5% produce pine stands of mainly bonitat class II, soils with 5–7% clay yield class I-I^a and soils with 7–12% clay yield class I^a-I^b.