A 0.5 million-hectare study area of the Bityug-Saval-Tsna interfluve of the Oka-Don lowland demonstrates the potential of digital mapping of soil combinations in the forest-steppe zone. The gently rugged topography of the interfluve and deposits with low permeability have resulted in restricted surface and subsurface runoff, leading to a predominance of semihydromorphic and hydromorphic chernozem soils in the soil structure, with some solonetzic soils at the northern boundary of their range. The region's soil cover characteristics are expressed by the dependence of the proportion of soils in soil combinations on the morphological features of the mesorelief, which is the leading factor in their organization. Soil diversity and intralandscape variability are determined by a set of 2,200 soil descriptions of 12 soil types/subtypes. The most significant factors of their spatial organization are slope steepness (°), topographic position index with radius 2,000 m (m), channel network base level (m), LS-factor, topographic wetness index (TWI), depth (m), and density (ha/100 ha) of closed depressions. Regional soil cover diversity is reduced to ten types of soil combinations, taking into account their component composition. A comparison of their boundaries with the contents of archival soil survey data demonstrated the comparability and advantages of the digital soil cover organization model compared to a regional generalization of large-scale soil maps of land use (southern Tambov Oblast). The approach used appears promising for solving fundamental and applied problems related to the study and inventory of soil cover as a component of the resource potential of agricultural land use.

The classification of soils water regimes is a basic scientific fundament of an interdependent relationship between the movement of water and the formation of a soil profile. This kind of classification provides a scientific and methodological platform for studying both the water regimes of soils in the landscape and the distribution of soils in the soil cover of the landscape. Numerical methods for representing the hydrological regimes of soils in the agricultural landscape are based on physical mathematical models of the soil water movement and spatial GIS information, together allowing to calculate, analyze and predict the water regimes of soils in the agricultural landscape. A spatial-dynamic SWAT (Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Tool) model is presented to describe the water regimes of soils in the agro-landscape of the finite moraine ridge of the Upper Volga postglacial region (East European Plain, Tver region), as an example of landscape numerical hydrological models. Experimental data on long-term observations of soil moisture correspond to the water calculated by the SWAT model at different times at a certain depth of the soil profile.

Among global issues of the 21st century are: 1) anthropogenic climate change, 2) under- and mal-nourishment, 3) water scarcity and eutrophication, 4) dwindling biodiversity, 5) soil degradation and desertification, etc. Most of these and other issues are caused and exacerbated by land misuse, and inappropriate practices of soil / crop / water mismanagement. Thus, agriculture must be transformed to be a part of the solution by producing more from less, reducing losses, and increasing use efficiency of inputs. Soil is the largest reservoir of C stock in the terrestrial biosphere and contains 2400 PgC to 1-m depth compared with 850 PgC in the atmosphere and 620 PgC in trees and woody perennials. Soils and ecosystems have been the source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the onset of agriculture because of deforestation, biomass burning, draining of wetlands, soil degradation, and inputs of agro-chemicals and energy-based inputs. Soils of agro-ecosystems can be transformed from a source to a sink of atmospheric CO2 by adoption of site-specific proven and best management practices. Upscaling C-farming can address food and nutritional security and advance Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

The objective of this study is to analyze the properties of saline soils in the Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug of the Irkutsk Region, one of the most agriculturally developed districts, using available analytical data. The dataset contains information on 122 soil profiles of varying hydromorphism, 109 of which are saline. Nonparametric statistics were used to analyze the soil profiles for the district as a whole, as well as for individual areas and soils of varying hydromorphism. Automorphic and semi-hydromorphic soils often exhibit a low degree of salinity and a magnesium-sodium sulfate soil type. Predominantly hydromorphic soils are more frequently and strongly saline, and their properties determine the overall saline soil profile in the district. According to the median, saline soils in the district are predominantly medium loamy, with a pH of 7.6–7.96, a carbonate content of 18%, and a gypsum content of 8%. According to the median, moderately saline soils of sodiummagnesium sulfate composition with gypsum predominate in the district as a whole. Sulfates predominate among the anions in the district, while magnesium and, less frequently, sodium are the cations. Chlorides are present in saline soils in many areas, accounting for 22% of the sample overall, but do not predominate in any area. Toxic alkalinity is present in 24% of the sample, with values typically below 1 cmol(eq)/kg, which is determined by the presence of magnesium bicarbonate in 75% of cases. In 25% of cases, this alkalinity is of sodic origin. In horizons where alkalinity is determined by soda, the composition is most often alkaline-chloride or chloride with toxic alkalinity.

The Sochi Arboretum is located at absolute altitudes of 8–140 m and includes the Lower Park on a low and flat marine terrace and the Upper Park comprising areas of weakly inclined Neogene terraces and steep slopes, which determines the differences in degradation trends: water logging of eluvialsurface-gley zheltozems in the Lower park, and erosion-colluvial processes in zheltozems and grey-humus soils in the Upper park. Both degradation types are not strongly pronounced. The increasing water logging is manifested in the increasing gleyzation and surface water stagnation owing to the breakdown of the drainage system. In the Upper park, water logging is local and confined to small depressions, and the main types of degradation are removal of soil upper layers (erosion) and landslides, especially noticeable on a very steep slope under the natural forest. One more degradation process is the recreational compaction of small paths. The properties of zheltozems are favorable for the development of degradation processes, these are: heavy texture, high density and massive fabric of poorly permeable subsoils, participation of smectite in the clay fraction, as well as landscape features: steep slopes and abundant rainfall.

A comprehensive characteristic of prokaryotic communities of “suspended soils (soil-like bodies/solids)” formed in the roots of epiphytic ferns (Drynaria sp. and Asplenium sp.) in the territory of the Vietnamese nature reserves (Pu Hoat, Con Chu Rang, Song Thanh, Tay Giang and Xuan Lien) was obtained. The total number of bacteria (direct microscopic method) varied from 1.5 to 5 billion cells/g of substrate, the length of actinomycete mycelium varied from 494 to 690 m/g of substrate. Among the cultivated saprotrophic bacteria, representatives of actinomycetes dominated. According to the results of metabarcoding, the community was dominated by the phyla Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota and Acidobacteriota. A number of bacterial genera identified by the 16S rRNA gene barcoding method belonged to typical soil bacteria capable of degrading complex organic compounds. The maximum generic diversity was found among representatives of the phylum Pseudomonadota, while less diversity was observed among the genera of the phylum Actinomycetota. Among the phylum Pseudomonadota, bacterial genera capable of actively fixing atmospheric nitrogen and synthesizing biologically active compounds are widely represented. The obtained pool of information on the diversity of the prokaryotic microbiome of “suspended soils” will allow us to form an idea of the functioning of this substrate and indicates a high biotechnological potential of the bacteria living in this biotope. 

In 2024, landscape geochemical studies were conducted in the southern regions of Mongolia in the area of coal (Tavan Tolgoi enterprise) and copper (Ouyu Tolgoi enterprise) mining. Samples of groundwater and soils were collected, chemical and analytical work was carried out. The purpose of the work is to assess the ecological state of soils and groundwater in the mining soums of Khanbogd and Tsogttsetsii of the South Gobi aimag of Mongolia. As a result of the studies, it was found that the groundwater in the copper mining area is mainly fresh, while in the coal mining area it is slightly saline. Soils are mainly sierozem-like, belong to carbonate, and sometimes to saline. Foci of groundwater and soil pollution were identified on the territory of farms located near mining enterprises. High concentrations of sodium, fluorine, magnesium, chlorine, sulfates and a number of toxic heavy metals have been found in the waters of wells and boreholes of local residents. Increased levels of nickel, copper, zinc and arsenic have been found in the soils of the same areas, exceeding sanitary and hygienic standards, sometimes by more than 20 times.

The relevance of field monitoring of soil respiration is beyond doubt and is determined by the significance of this process in assessing the biological activity of soils and the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems. Due to the dominance of manual measurements, the patterns of daily and seasonal dynamics of soil respiration, especially at night and in the cold season, are poorly understood. The work uses a new approach that allows fully automating field monitoring of soil respiration in order to identify patterns of its multi-scale dynamics in the annual cycle. The know-how of the approach consisted in using soil chambers periodically purged with atmospheric air with built-in low-cost CO2 loggers HT-401/5, recording the dynamics of CO2 concentrations every minute. Purging with atmospheric air brought the chamber concentration of CO2 to the background level, after which the compressor was turned off, and the logger recorded the trend of CO2 accumulation due to soil respiration, used for the standard calculation of the CO2 flux according to the linear model for a closed chamber. The results of continuous automatic monitoring of CO2 fluxes at the stationary site of the Institute of Forest Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Serebryanobor experimental forestry on cultivated sod-podzolic sandy loam soil (loamy sand Cambisol) under blue spruce (Picea pungens, Engelm.) during 2024–2025 with two cold seasons showed the significance of night soil respiration in the daily cycle and respiration in the cold period of the year from November to March in the annual cycle, as well as the role of the temperature factor in multi-scale dynamics of soil respiration, which is of interest for predictive empirical models of this process in a changing climate.

Using the method of granular-densitometric fractionation, pools of organic matter (OM) of different localization in the soil matrix were isolated from the surface horizons of Haplic Chernozem of the contrasting land use variants (steppe and bare fallow) (Kursk region). Isotope analysis demonstrated that the localization of OM in the soil matrix can be considered as a critical condition for its biodegradation. OM pools of different localization in the soil matrix (free (LF_fr), occluded OM (LF_occ); OM of clay fractions (Clay), OM of the Residue fraction (Res)) are subjected to varying degrees of microbial processing, which leads to fractionation of ¹³C fractionation and is reflected in their differences isotopic signature (δ¹³С): the δ¹³C value of mineral-associated OM (Clay + Res) is higher compared to that of discrete OM (LF_fr +LF_occ). Under conditions of a long bare fallow regime (52 years), due to the almost complete absence of fresh plant material inputs for a long time, the isotopic signature of all studied OM pools, excluding LFfr, shifted towards the ¹³C enrichment of OM due to the substrate effect, accompanied by increased isotopic discrimination with an increase in the number of microbial recycling cycles. The presented conceptual scheme of carbon (C) fluxes in a system of OM pools in native conditions (steppe) demonstrates that the C flow of plant origin (high probability) goes from LF_fr to the Res through microaggregates within aggregates (mA) consisting of occluded OM and Clay-bound OMIt was revealed that, despite the fact that in the bare fallow the main pathways of OM formation remained the same, their probability decreased sharply compared to those in the steppe, apparently as a result of a slowdown in microbial activity caused by sharp negative changes in the OM quality. 

The results of the study of the total amount and mobile forms of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co and Cr are presented. The studies were conducted in the Bryansk Region, Russia, in the landscapes of the Desna River floodplain. Soil samples were collected using the soil key method (92 soil pits). High variability of gross amount and mobile forms of cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, cobalt and chromium in alluvial soils of the Desna River is shown. The presence of a correlation between the gross content of trace elements in the soil and its granulometric composition is established. According to the concentration clarke value, the elements are grouped in a descending series: Cu > Pb > Zn > Co > Ni > Cr > Cd, similar to that in alluvial soils of other rivers in the region. A geochemical index of floodplain soils of the Desna River has been compiled, which allows one to judge the potential reserve of trace elements. The mobility series of trace elements Cd > Ni > Pb > Zn > Cu > Co > Cr has been established, similar to that in soils of a different genesis. A correlation has been established between the content of the mobile form of cadmium, copper, nickel and cobalt and the content of physical clay in the soil. The degree of zinc, copper and cobalt supply of floodplain soils of the Desna River is shown. The need for their additional amount when growing agricultural products is noted.