Understanding the effects of elevation and related factors(climate,vegetation) on the physical and chemical soil properties can help to predict changes in response to future climate or afforestation forcings.This work...Understanding the effects of elevation and related factors(climate,vegetation) on the physical and chemical soil properties can help to predict changes in response to future climate or afforestation forcings.This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of soil evolution and the classification of forest soils in relation to elevation in the montane stage,with special attention to podzolization and humus forms.The northern flank of the Moncayo Massif(Iberian Range,SW Europe) provides a unique opportunity to study a forest soils catena within a consistent quartzitic parent material over a relatively steep elevation gradient.With increasing elevation,pH,base saturation,exchangeable potassium,and fine silt-sized particles decrease significantly,while organic matter,the C/N ratio,soil aggregate stability,water repellency and coarse sand-sized particles increase significantly.The soil profiles shared a set of properties in all horizons:loamy-skeletal particle-size,extreme acidity(pH-H_2O<5.6) and low base saturation(<50%).The most prevalent soil forming processes in the catena include topsoil organic matter accumulation and even podzolization,which increases with elevation.From the upper to lower landscape positions of wooded montane stage of the Moncayo Massif,mull-moder-mor humus and an UmbrisolCambisol-Podzol soil unit sequences were found.展开更多
基金supported by project CGL2013-43440-R,funded by the Ministerio de Economiay Competitividad of Spain
文摘Understanding the effects of elevation and related factors(climate,vegetation) on the physical and chemical soil properties can help to predict changes in response to future climate or afforestation forcings.This work aims to contribute to the knowledge of soil evolution and the classification of forest soils in relation to elevation in the montane stage,with special attention to podzolization and humus forms.The northern flank of the Moncayo Massif(Iberian Range,SW Europe) provides a unique opportunity to study a forest soils catena within a consistent quartzitic parent material over a relatively steep elevation gradient.With increasing elevation,pH,base saturation,exchangeable potassium,and fine silt-sized particles decrease significantly,while organic matter,the C/N ratio,soil aggregate stability,water repellency and coarse sand-sized particles increase significantly.The soil profiles shared a set of properties in all horizons:loamy-skeletal particle-size,extreme acidity(pH-H_2O<5.6) and low base saturation(<50%).The most prevalent soil forming processes in the catena include topsoil organic matter accumulation and even podzolization,which increases with elevation.From the upper to lower landscape positions of wooded montane stage of the Moncayo Massif,mull-moder-mor humus and an UmbrisolCambisol-Podzol soil unit sequences were found.
