The impact of land use and land cover changes on

Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Vol. 59 (2015), Suppl. 2, 041-074 The impact of land use and land cover changes Stuttgart, June 2015

Article 41

The impact of land use and land cover changes on soil properties and plant communities in the Gorce Mountains (Western Polish Carpathians), during the past 50 years Anna Bucała, Anna Budek and Maciej Kozak with 9 figures and 10 tables Abstract. The research was carried out in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (area of 11.39 km2 and 8.95 km2, respectively) in the Gorce Mountains (the Western Polish Carpathians). Analysis of aerial photographs from the period 1954–2009 shows that land use and land cover changes in both catchments have intensified since the economic transformation of 1989. Changes in inhabitants’ sources of income led to an increase in the area of forest (in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments, by 14.6% and 24.0%, respectively) at the expense of agricultural land. Land use changes resulted in decreases in soil erosion. Reduced slope wash has limited the amount of suspended load, which in turn has resulted in the interruption of aggradation on their floodplains. The average bed incision has increased, from 0.24 cm per year and 0.32 cm per year, in the Jaszcze and Jamne streams, respectively, during the period 1964–1968, to 1 cm per year for the period 1969–2008. Such land use changes are not much in evidence in soils under arable and fallow land, in terms of organic carbon content, phosphorus content, or in the saturation level of the sorption complex. This may be an effect of the short time since the discontinuation of plowing (ten to thirty years). The differences between pH and nitrogen content of these soils are small and are not the result of present-day land use. Only the higher organic matter content in the soils under arable land is the result of continuous fertilization. In contrast, micromorphological analysis of thin sections shows distinct differences between arable land and fallow land. In soils under arable land, well-developed angular microstructure occurs. Here, plowing traces are easily visible. In soils under fallow land, massive or channel microstructure dominate. On the basis of a phytosociological map from the 1960’s, resurveyed in 2012–2013, a clear decrease in segetal communities as well as poor grasslands was observed. These communities were mainly replaced by floristically impoverished dense thickets, plots dominated by Vaccinium myrtillus, and communities developed on fallow lands. Key words: human impact, soil properties, micromorphology, plant communities, phytosociological map, Western Carpathians

1

Introduction

In the past two decades, changes have occurred in land use and land cover (LULC) associated with the decreasing profitability of traditional farming management in mountains. These changes intensified during the time of economic transformation in Poland after 1989 (Górz 2003), and they resulted in a significant decrease in the proportion of arable land (Kozak 2005). The factor affecting this drop in the profitability of farming in mountains after 1989 was the withdrawal of special budget subsidies for farms in mountainous areas, and the promulgating of a 1988 statute © 2015 Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany DOI: 10.1127/zfg_suppl/2015/S-59204

www.borntraeger-cramer.de 0372-8854/15/S-59204 $ 8.50

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A. Bucała et al.

on individual economic entities, which supported the development of activities other than agriculture (Górz 2003). The result of these transformations was a significant increase in the area of fallow lands in Poland, from 160,000 hectares (1.1%) in 1990 to 2,300,000 hectares (17.6%) in 2003 (German & Wójcik 2009). It has also led to an increase in forest areas. The changes occurring in the Polish Carpathians correspond with an earlier trend found in other mountainous regions of Europe, namely the decreasing proportion of cultivated land and the increasing area of forests (Piussi 2000, Lipský 2001, Gómez-Limón & De Lucío Fernández 2002, Falcucci et al. 2007). For example, in the French Alps, afforestation started as early as the nineteenth century and was the result of the wish to reduce the flood risk consequent on deforestation (Mather & Needle 1998, Whited 2000). Later, the increased forest cover was linked with the outflow of population from less fertile areas and the intensification of agriculture in the adjacent lowlands (Macdonald et al. 2000, Didier 2001, Moreira et al. 2001, Tasser et al. 2007). For many years, the widespread process of depopulation of less fertile areas has continued in Sierra Morena, in Spain (Ales 1991). In the Swiss and Austrian Alps, the diversification of the economy offered work outside the agricultural sector and led to a farming crisis and the abandonment of traditional mountain agriculture and shepherding (Grötzbach 1988, Lichtenberger 1988). The consequence of abandoning the agricultural LULC has been a transformation of the natural landscape (Wolski 1998, Lipský 2001, Moreira et al. 2001, Latocha & Migoń 2006, Rutherford et al. 2008), including changes in soil properties (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969, Peco et al. 2006, Sosnowska 2011) and vegetation cover (Benjamin et al. 2005, Baur et al. 2006), and a decrease in erosion and sediment yields, resulting in river incision (Rinaldi & Simon1998, Kondolf et al. 2002, Liebault & Piégay 2002, Korpak 2007). In areas with little diversity in substrate and moisture conditions, the changes in soil properties resulting from altered land use are difficult to detect. Nevertheless, some structures, e.g., soil aggregates, pores and free spaces, and – to some extent – decomposed organic matter, can provide information about the type and direction of changes occurring in recently plowed soils and fallow soils (Davidson & Janssens 2006). Significant differences in organic matter content in soils under various types of use (arable land or grassland) which originated in similar environmental conditions (similar microclimate, substrate) can be inconspicuous. It results from the rate of decomposition of organic material, which depends chiefly on the actions of enzymes accelerating the decomposition of the material, and – both directly and indirectly – on the types of soil, temperature, and local conditions in the substrate. However, tilling the soil, fertilizing it and plowing it can lead to minor differences in the decomposition rate of organic material (Davidson & Janssens 2006). Biologically active soils show traces of bioturbations which often disturb or alter earlier forms and structures in soils. These traces are very frequently deformed by earthworms and other soil invertebrates. The occurrence of these organisms in soils depends on the type of agricultural practices, such as, e.g., plowing and applying pesticides (Mackay & Kladivko 1985, Marinissen 1992, Berry & Karlen 1993). Thus, biological activity occurring in the surface layers of soils can obliterate structures occurring as a result of intensive cultivation practices. As regards vegetation cover, particularly profound changes have occurred in anthropogenic (including semi-natural) communities which depend closely on the type of land use (e.g. Kornaś &

The impact of land use and land cover changes

43

Dubiel 1990, Zarzycki & Korzeniak 1992, Barabasz 1997, Losvik 1999, Krahulec et al. 2001, Fischer & Wipf 2002, Tasser & Tappeiner 2002, Moen et al. 2006, Zarzycki 2006, Zarzycki & Kaźmierczakowa 2006, Kozak 2007, Niedrist et al. 2009, Lundberg 2011). Previously, the floristic composition of these communities could be determined exactly, and depended almost entirely on the habitat conditions and the type and frequency of application of specific agricultural measures (e.g., plowing, purifying seed lots, cutting, grazing, fertilizing). The tendency to abandon traditional methods of tillage as a result of falling profitability pertains particularly to mountain areas (Rutherford et al. 2008). Additional difficulties stem from poorer access to land, the low productivity of skeletal soils, and – in the Polish Carpathians – major land fragmentation (Sroka 2008). As a result, in a number of European regions, secondary succession takes over on abandoned arable land and grassland (e.g.. Michalik 1990, Witkowska-Żuk & Ciurzycki 2000, Barabasz-Krasny 2002, Gómez-Limón & De Lucío Fernández 2002, Stránská 2004, Bodziarczyk & Drajewicz 2006, Wężyk 2006, Tasser et al. 2007). The species composition of semi-natural plant communities undergoes changes that are mostly adverse, often associated with a marked decrease in floristic diversity, and are associated with the disappearance of many plant species and plant associations of great natural interest (Burel & Baudry 1995, Losvik 1999, Zarzycki 1999, Rosset et al. 2001, Fischer & Wipf 2002, Mitlacher et al. 2002, Tasser & Tappeiner 2002, Pavlů et al. 2005, Zarzycki & Kaźmierczakowa 2006, Kozak 2007, Niedrist et al. 2009). Detailed knowledge of the rate and direction of these changes in vegetation is of key importance in preventing this adverse phenomenon, and by the same token contributes to the conservation of biodiversity. The Jaszcze and Jamne catchments were studied in detail in the 1960s (Gerlach & Niemirowski 1968, Medwecka-Kornaś (ed.) 1968, Niemirowska & Niemirowski 1968, Sikora & Żytko 1968, Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969, Obrębska-Starklowa 1969). The state of the environment recorded in the 1960s forms a good basis for comparison with the current changes resulting from the socioeconomic transformation which accelerated from 1989, onwards. The present paper attempts to determine how spatial and temporal changes in LULC reflect the physical and chemical properties of soils, as well as the area and composition of plant communities, in the small catchments of medium-high mountains over the last 50 years. This period includes two distinct stages of economic development: i) the communist system, up until 1989, and ii) the post-communist economic transformation. 2

Study area

The Gorce are medium-high mountains (600–1,300 m a.s.l.) in the Polish Flysch Carpathians. They extend 33 km from west to east, and form wide mountain ridges with steep slopes, deeply dissected by the tributaries of the Raba and Dunajec rivers. Studies were carried out in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (the Ochotnica Dolna commune, the Dunajec basin) which dissect the southern slopes. The Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (area of 11.39 km2 and 8.95 km2, respectively) have environmental features representative of the Western Flysch Carpathians (Fig. 1). Both catchments are in the range of the Magura nappe (Upper Cretaceosus to Eocene), which appear in the form of alternate sandstone and shale layers of varying thickness. Shales and thin

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A. Bucała et al.

Fig. 1. Location of study area. Black rectangles indicate four study plots of plant communities.

bedded sandstones are less resistant to weathering, while more resistant thick beds of sandstone usually form the culminations. High ridges (1,000–1,250 m a.s.l.) and deep V-shaped valleys are thus the main relief forms. The valleys, dissected up to of 300–600 m, have narrow erosional bottoms with rocky channels. The ridges are rounded and inclined up to 5°, but over 70% of the area occupies slopes steeper than 15°, of convex or convex-concave shape. Steep slopes are dissected by linear erosion and shaped mainly by shallow landslides, which cover about 10% of both catchments. Slope wash is most important on the cultivated slopes, and leaching on the slopes covered by dense vegetation (Gerlach & Niemirowski 1968). The Jaszcze and Jamne streams (9.3 km and 6.4 km long, respectively), are left-bank tributaries of the Ochotnica river (Dunajec basin), which together form the main river network. In the upper sections of the side valleys, water flows periodically and forms a network of sporadic streams. The average discharge is 0.3 m3/s in the Jaszcze stream and 0.2 m3/s in the Jamne stream. The maximum discharges are in February, June and July, and can reach up to 3.0 m3/s in the Jaszcze stream and up to 6.0 m3/s in the Jamne stream (Niemirowska & Niemirowski 1968). A relationship between the type of soil and parent material are particularly noticeable in the physical and chemical properties of the soil, such as grain-size composition, soil pH, and the contents of micro- and macro-element in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (Adamczyk 1966). On weathered sandstones, acidic or leached brown soils primarily occur. The grain-size composition of these soils includes loams and sandy clay (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969). On the outcrops of shales, Luvisols occur, the mechanical composition of which contains large quantities of silt. In the upper parts of the Gorce Mountains, on poor, sandy parent material, Podzosls have formed. In close depressions or in landslide scarps, hydromorphic soils occur, chiefly gley, humous-gley, and muck-peat soils, and, in valley bottoms, alluvial soils. Land use in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments is associated to a great extent with the soil’s properties, in particular with the depth of the soil and its skeletal fraction content, which limits the use of plows (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969). Flysch with marl-silicate series occupies a larger area


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in the Jamne catchment, while flysch with quartz-silicate series is more common in the Jaszcze catchment. Shallow and rocky soils located on quartz-silicate rocks are usually covered with forest. Deep and less rocky soils, often occurring on marl-silicate rocks, are seldom cultivated. The resulting differences in soil cover led to extensive deforestation of the Jamne catchment, with agricultural lands located at 1,000 m a.s.l. (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969, Bucała 2014). The Jaszcze and Jamne catchments are located in two vertically-differentiated climatic zones: 1) a temperate cold zone (of a mean annual temperature of 4–6 °C), and 2) a cold zone (2–4 °C), above 1,100 m a.s.l. (Hess 1965). Mean annual air temperature decreases from 6 °C in valley outlet sections to 3 °C in summit sections (Obrębska-Starklowa 1969). Mean annual precipitation, in the years 1958–2008, was 841 mm. Both catchments are overgrown with mixed forest (oak, spruce, pine) of the lower mountain zone (between 600–700 m a.s.l. and 1,100 m a.s.l.) and Carpathian spruce forest which occurs at elevations above 1,100 m a.s.l. The upper parts of the valleys are within the borders of the Gorce National Park (GNP), established in 1981. In both catchments, the effects of many centuries of human activities have transformed the natural environment. Settlement activities have been accompanied by forest clearing for agropastoral use since the 16th century (Czajka 1987, Bucała et al. 2014). Over time, rising populations accelerated a process of agricultural plot partitioning and farmland fragmentation. Until the mid-20th century, farming and pasturing were critical income sources in the Ochotnica Dolna commune. By the end of the 1980s, however, farming incomes began to decline as other income sources (from non-agricultural sectors) became available, and this trend has continued until the present day (Bucała 2014). 3

Methods

The changes in LULC were derived from panchromatic aerial photos at a scale of 1:20,000 for the year 1954, and color aerial orthophotomaps at a scale of 1:5,000 for the year 2009. Additional LULC information was derived from topographic maps at a scale of 1:10,000 for the year 1981, and aerial photos at a scale of 1:9,000 and 1:13,000 for the years 1997 and 2004, respectively. Geometric corrections were performed to rectify all the maps and images using the UTM projection system in a GIS ILWIS 3.3 environment (International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Science 1997). In order to standardize the values of maps from two different time periods, six consistent LULC categories were defined: forest, grassland (meadows and pastures), arable land, groups of trees and shrubs, tree belts along roads, and buildings. The soil sampling scheme was based on the assumption that soil differentiation, apart from long-term natural soil-forming factors, depends on LULC changes. Soil data, based on a detailed soil survey (2011–2012), were combined with a 1:10,000-scale digitized soil map developed in the 1960s (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969), and overlapped with an earlier LULC digitized map (1954–2009) of the same scale. Subsequently, twelve soil profiles were analyzed from the ridges to the valley bottoms of the Jaszcze (6 profiles) and Jamne (6 profiles) catchments. Ten profiles were located within abandoned arable land during the last ten to thirty years. Two profiles (11, 12) in the Jaszcze valley were located under arable land cultivated with root and oat crops (Fig. 2).

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The grain-size composition of each soil sample was determined using the combined sieving method and a Fritsch laser particle sizer Analysette 22, after pretreatment with H2O and ultrasonic disaggregation. The pH values in H2O and KCl were measured electrometrically in a 1:2.5 soil/water and a soil/KCl suspension, respectively. The carbon content in the top soil layers was determined using the Tiurin method (Dziadowiec & Gonet 1999). The content of nitrogen (N) was measured using the Kjeldahl method, magnesium (Mg) was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (ASA), phosphorus oxide (P2O5) was measured using the colorimetric

Fig. 2. Soil map of the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969) with 12 analyzed soil profiles. In brackets, soil units according to the Keys to Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff 2010).

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method, and potassium oxide (K2O), using the flame photometric method. The hydrolytic acidity and saturation of the sorption complex were also determined. The color of the soil was determined according to the Munsell system. Additionally, undisturbed blocks of soil were taken from selected profiles for micromorphological analyses. The blocks were taken from humus A horizons, and transitional enrichment AB layer (Table 1). They were soaked and hardened in epoxy resin, then 24 mm thick sections (8 × 5 cm) were cut (Fitzpatrick 1970). The structures observed in the thin sections were described in detail according to guidelines on the description of micromorphological structures and features (Bullock et al. 1985, Stoops 2003). In order to track changes in vegetation, four plots were selected (Table 2) which were distinctly different with respect to land management, both in the mid-twentieth century and in a later period. Two of them (plots 1 and 2) were marked out near buildings where earlier arable land had predominated. Plots 3 and 4 represent so-called ‘montane meadows’, typical of the Polish Carpathians which, in earlier times, were used exclusively as grasslands (meadows or pasTable 1. Soil profiles in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments and list of thin sections. Site name

Nature of site

Slope – aspect E, inclination 12°, 945 m a.s.l. JG1 Jamne catchment – A Bbr 56 cm deep cultivated soil. Skałka hamlet The meadow mown developed on arable land 15 years ago.

Thin sections JG1 0–25 cm

Slope – aspect E, inclination 18°, 1005 m a.s.l. JG2 Jamne catchment – JG2 0–20 cm A Bbr 30 cm deep cultivated soil. Skałka hamlet The meadow mown developed on arable land 20–25 years ago. JG4 Jamne catchment

Slope – aspect SW, inclination 16°, 750 m a.s.l. A 20 cm deep cultivated soil. The meadow mown developed on arable land 10 years ago.

JG6 Jamne catchment

Slope – aspect E, inclination 15°, 790 m a.s.l. JG6a 0–10 cm JG6b 10–25 cm A Bbr 35cm deep cultivated soil. The meadow mown developed on arable land 20–25years ago. JG6c 25–35 cm

JG7 Jaszcze catchment

Slope – aspect SE, inclination 25°, 900 m a.s.l. A Bbr 26 cm deep cultivated soil. The meadow mown developed on arable land 15 years ago.

JG7a 0–12 cm JG7b 12–26 cm

JG9 Jaszcze catchment

Valley bottom, inclination 5°, 665 m a.s.l. A Bbr 44 cm deep cultivated soil. The meadow mown developed on arable land 30 years ago.

JG9a 0–12 cm JG9b 12–30 cm

JG4 0–20 cm

Slope – aspect S, inclination 16°, 783 m a.s.l. JG11 Jaszcze catchment A Bbr 25 cm deep cultivated soil. The arable land under oat cultivation.

JG11 0–25 cm

Valley bottom, inclination 5°, 620 m a.s.l. JG12 Jaszcze catchment A Bbr 30 cm deep cultivated soil. The arable land under potatoes cultivation.

JG12 5–30 cm

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Table 2. Study plots for which the mapping of current vegetation was performed in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchment.

Study plot

Name

Location

Area [ha]

Elevation [m a.s.l.]

1

lower parts of the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments

49o30’51” N 20o14’30” E

55.3

600–730

2

Skałka hamlet

49o33’00” N 20o13’30” E

28.3

840–1050

3

Łonna glade

49o32’22” N 20o11’21” E

3.0

850–900

4

Tomaśkula glade

49o31’59” N 20o10’48” E

1.6

1055–1085

tures) and are now situated within the Gorce National Park. The current vegetation in all the selected plots was mapped from June 2012 until the beginning of September 2013. The borders of plant communities were then drawn on a background map at a scale of 1:2,000, prepared on the basis of a 2009 color orthophotomap (1:5,000). In order to delimit patches less distinct in aerial photographs, a Garmin GPSmap 62s receiver was used. The reference of comparison was a 1:10,000-scale phytosociological map of the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments, surveyed in the 1960s (Medwecka-Kornaś (ed.) 1968). The older phytosociological map had been digitalized and a grid of geographical coordinates was superimposed on it. Out of necessity, the calibration was done by assigning geographical coordinates, as far as possible, to selected characteristic points, as the map has neither a cartographic nor kilometre grid. For this reason, the data regarding the surfaces of particular plant communities read from this map should be treated as approximate. Nevertheless, it allows general tendencies in the rate and direction of changes occurring in the vegetation of this area to be fully identified. 4

Results

4.1 LULC changes in the period 1954–2009 Between 1954 and 2009, similar LULC changes were observed in both catchments, although their initial states were notably different (Fig. 3, Table 3). In 1954, in the Jaszcze catchment, over half of the area was occupied by forest, forming a continuous complex, which covered the middle and higher catchment elevations. The continuous forest complex persisted largely as a result of the steep gradients and north-facing slopes. The grassland covered 24.47% of the surface area, arable land, only 9.40%. During the past half-century, the area of forest increased by 14.65% of the total area of the Jaszcze catchment, while the grassland area decreased from 24.47% to

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Fig. 3. Land use and land cover changes in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments between 1954 and 2009.

Table 3. Land use and land cover changes [%] in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments in 1954 and 2009.

LULC

Jaszcze catchment 1954

Jamne catchment 1954

Jaszcze catchment 2009

Jamne catchment 2009

Forest

65.18

36.96

79.83

60.94

Grassland

24.47

42.05

18.62

35.74

Arable land

9.40

19.28

0.60

1.25

Groups of trees and bushes on grasslands

0.73

1.46

0.62

1.03

Tree belts along roads

0.12

0.12

0.02

0.68

Buildings

0.10

0.13

0.31

0.36

18.62%. Arable land decreased by over 90% to 2009, and is currently only 0.6% of the catchment. The buildings (houses and farm storage buildings) increased from 0.10% to 0.31% in the same period. In 1954, in the Jamne catchment, farmland occupied 61.33% (with arable land at 19.28% and grassland at 42.05%), while forest covered only 36.96% of the total area. Forest grew mainly on the slopes of deeply incised tributary valleys and the upper parts of the Jamne valley. Only a small area of the catchment was occupied by groups of trees and bushes, or belts of trees and shrubs along the roads (1.58%). The buildings situated in the lower part of the valley covered only 0.13%

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of the total area. As in the case of the Jaszcze catchment, the arable land in the Jamne catchment decreased by 90% between 1954 and 2009. By 2009, the only remaining arable land was adjacent to houses, at lower elevations and on gentler slopes. The area of grassland also decreased from 42.05% to 35.74% during the same period. The forest area increased by 23.98% when compared with the total area of the Jamne catchment. 4.2 Changes in soil properties 4.2.1 Soil properties In the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments, the soil layer is firmly attached to the parental rock, which is reflected in its physical and chemical properties and in the thickness of soil profiles. On the steep slopes, the soil profile thickness is diversified. In the upper parts of slopes, mainly shallow and moderately deep soils occur, and the thickness of profiles amounts to between 20 and 50 cm (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969). In the lower parts of slopes, the thickness can exceed 1.5 m. Additionally, there are rock fragments of parent material of various sizes in the profiles. These are chiefly fragments of sandstones. In both catchments, enrichment of the soils is evident, with fine fractions at the bottom of the profiles (Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969, Table 4). In some cases, particularly on the lower parts of the slope, it results in decreased permeability at the bottom of the profile and favors the occurrence of gley processes. Soils in arable land have shallower soil profiles, but they contain fewer skeletal fractions than the soils used as meadows and pastures in both valleys. This can be associated with the method of plowing along the slope inclination, which accelerates the selective erosion of fine soil fractions. The carbon content in the top levels of the studied soils ranges from 1.1–2.4% in the humus horizon, and from 0.3 to 1.4% in the horizons below it. No evident differences were observed between arable land and grassland. The differences between the nitrogen contents in the soils of both catchments are small. They usually stay within 0.12–0.28% (Table 4), and they do not differ from the contents of this element in arable soil elsewhere in Poland (Gliński 1995). It is only in the humus horizon of soil in the Jamne valley (JG5) that the nitrogen content is lower, and amounts to 0.14%. The nitrogen content decreases with the depth of the profile both in recently fertilized soils and in those not cultivated. The nitrogen availability for plants is relatively good and amounts to ca. 10:1, which facilitates the mineralization of organic remains (Table 4). The differences in the contents of the microelements in soil profiles are small (Table 5). The small content of potassium in the analyzed soils can be associated with its low content in the parental rock, i.e., flysch. For this reason, in most cases, only trace quantities of this element occur in the soil. Research conducted by Adamczyk & Komornicki (1969) in the studied area showed differences in soil pH and the saturation of soil sorption complexes, especially in topsoil under different LULC. Topsoil pH reached low values in forests (pH 3.2–6.9), whilst higher values were observed in grasslands (pH 3.8–6.9) and in arable lands (4.2–5.4). Similar tendencies were observed in the case of soil sorption complex, which is lowest in forest soil (13–76%), grasslands (21–70%) and arable lands (34–77%, data after Adamczyk & Komornicki 1969).


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The soil pH (H2O) in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments ranges from 4.85 to 6.6, and increases with the depth of the profiles located on slopes (Tables 4 and 5). Only in the valley bottoms, where Fluvisols dominate, does the pH value decrease with the depth of profile (see Table 5, JG9). No major differences were noted in the soil pH between the soils currently used as arable land, and the soils left fallow or used as grassland. In all the analyzed soils, the saturation level of the sorption complex is similar. In arable land soil horizons, it is higher (Table 5), and its value decreases with the depth of the profile. Only in the soil currently occupied by cereal crops (JG11) does the cation saturation level of the sorption complex increase with the depth of the profile (Table 5). 4.2.2 Micromorphological analysis The micromorphological features observed in thin sections show that the soils in the study area are biologically active. In the majority of the analyzed thin sections, channel microstructure (thin sections JG1, JG9a, JG11, JG12), angular microstructure (thin sections JG1, JG2, JG4, JG6b, JG6c, JG7a, JG11, JG12) or subangular microstructure (thin sections JG2, JG4, JG6a, JG7a and weakly developed JG12) occurs. Massive microstructure occurs in Fluvisols (thin sections JG9a, JG9b), and in the lower part of the JG6 (JG6c) profile. In these soils, stable angular or subangular soil aggregates are developed (Table 6). Particular attention should be paid to soil aggregates occurring in thin sections made from currently cultivated soils. Owing to continuous agricultural measures and the annual fertilization of fields, the aggregates are very well formed and visible, both macroscopically and in micromorphological thin sections JG11 and JG12 (Fig. 4). In humus horizons, the aggregates formed by earthworms have a characteristic bow-like (Stoops 2003) shape and are separated from the groundmass (Jongmans et al. 2001, Pulleman et al. 2005). The coarse-grained material is composed primarily of fine quartz grains (c/f limit = 2 μm). The mineral crystals are predominantly angular and are well-preserved. Sporadically, biotite and feldspars occur. The major skeletal fraction is represented by fragments of coarse- and fine-grained sandstone with ferruginous cement. In most cases, the edges of sandstones are weathered. As the result of the weathering of rock fragments, they have developed a ferruginous ring around them which is often discontinuous. Numerous fragments of coarse- or fine-grained sandstones with ferruginous cement are embedded in the groundmass, which can affect its color, particularly in the enrichment of B horizons (Fig. 5). For this reason, the groundmass of B horizon is most often a rusty-brown-orange color, and the groundmass of humus horizon is of a brown color, which is caused by a large content of amorphous humus. In individual thin sections, fine material is not sorted (b-feature – undifferentiated), whereas, in the bottom parts of the profiles, the arrangement of rock fragments is often horizontal (JG6c). Iron nodules of rounded or irregular shapes occur commonly in the groundmass. Considering the shape and form of ferruginous precipitates, it can be stated that they have developed chiefly as a result of soil-forming processes (Budek 2010).

JG6

JG5

JG4

JG3

JG2

JG1

Profile

Bbrg

BbrgC

35–70

70–100

10YR4/3

10YR4/3

10YR3/3

10YR3/2

A

ABbr

0–21

21–35

10YR5/6

BbrC

10YR5/6

10YR4/3

70–80

A

0–14

10YR5/6

Bbr

BbrgC

70–96

10YR4/4

10YR4/3

10YR5/6

10YR4/4

10YR4/3

10YR5/4

10YR4/4

10YR4/2

2.5YR4/1

10YR4/4

14–70

Bbrg

A

0–21

21–70

BbrC

52–90

A

Bbr

0-23

23–52

Bbrg

30–79

A

0–14

ABbr

BbrC

56–76

14–30

Bbr

15–76

10YR4/2

27.8

12.9

49.5

22.5

39.2

43.4

38.8

15.5

22.8

21.0

16.0

22.3

25.8

38.2

23.4

33.2

27.4

13.9

31.5

Silt

60.7

77.0

46.2

69.9

52.2

50.4

54.5

71.2

65.9

70.9

72.9

67.9

67.6

54.4

69.0

60.7

61.8

74.7

63.0

A

Sand

0–15

Color moist [%]

Soil horizon

[cm]

Depth

11.5

10.1

4.3

7.6

8.6

6.2

6.7

13.3

11.3

8.1

11.1

9.8

6.6

7.4

7.6

6.1

10.8

11.4

5.5

-

-

0.9

1.6

-

0.7

1.1

-

0.6

1.3

-

0.9

2.4

-

1.1

2.1

-

0.7

1.7

[%]

0.12

0.15

0.17

0.28

0.07

0.13

0.14

0.11

0.07

0.28

0.10

0.11

0.35

0.07

0.17

0.22

0.08

0.12

0.21

[%]

Clay C org. Total N

Table 4. Physical and chemical properties of soils in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments.

Slope – aspect E, inclination 15°, 790 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 20–25 years ago.

Slope – aspect SE, inclination 20°, 730 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 10 years ago.

Slope – aspect SW, inclination 16°, 750 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 10 years ago.

Slope – aspect SE, inclination 15°, 853 m a.s.l The barren or rare meadow mown developed on arable land 20–25 years ago.

Slope – aspect E, inclination 18°, 1005 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 20–25 years ago.

Slope – aspect E, inclination 12°, 945 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 15 years ago.

Nature of site and land use

52 A. Bucała et al.

JG12

JG11

JG10

JG9

JG8

JG7

Profile

B

30–50

Ap

0–12

A/Bbr

B/C

25–50

12–25

A/Bbr

Ap

0–12

12–25

BbrC

42–79

A

0–16

Bbr

BC

44–70

16–42

ABbr

A

0–12

12–44

Bbr/C

38–62

ABbr

0–10

BbrC

BbrgC

50–88

10–38

A/Bbr

26–50

10YR4/3

10YR3/3

10YR4/2

10YR4/3

10YR4/3

10YR4/2

10YR5/3

10YR5/6

10YR4/3

10YR4/6

10YR4/6

10YR3/2

10YR6/4

10YR4/4

10YR4/2

10YR5/4

10YR5/3

10YR4/3

50.8

43.1

45.,7

39.1

36.,9

37.6

39.5

32.8

49.8

53.7

46.5

47.8

45.3

39.9

44.1

26.8

28.7

33.9

Silt

45.4

52.5

50.7

56.9

59.4

58.2

52.2

60.2

45.5

41.1

47.8

47.2

48.8

54.8

50.5

64.5

61.9

60.3

A

Sand

0–26

Color moist [%]

Soil horizon

[cm]

Depth

3.8

4.4

3.6

4.0

3.7

4.2

8.3

7.0

4.7

5.2

5.7

5.0

5.9

5.3

5.4

8.7

9.4

5.8

-

0.7

1.9

-

1.4

1.8

-

-

2.1

-

0.3

1.9

-

1.1

1.8

-

0.5

1.3

[%]

0.10

0.16

0.28

0.17

0.25

0.28

0.06

0.15

0.28

0.04

0.06

0.22

0.10

0.17

0.21

0.08

0.06

0.22

[%]

Clay C org. Total N

Nature of site and land use

Valley bottom, inclination 5°, 620 m a.s.l. The arable land under potatoes cultivation.

Slope – aspect S, inclination 16°, 783 m a.s.l. The arable land under oat cultivation.

Slope – aspect E, inclination 10°, 1020 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 30 years ago.

Valley bottom, inclination 5°, 665 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 30 years ago.

Slope – aspect S, inclination 20°, 840 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 10 years ago, landslide area.

Slope – aspect SE, inclination 25°, 900 m a.s.l. The meadow mown developed on arable land 15 years ago.

Table 4 (continued). Physical and chemical properties of soils in the Jaszcze and Jamne catchments.


53

JG6

JG5

JG4

JG3

JG2

JG1

Profile

BbrC

A

ABbr

Bbrg

BbrgC

70-80

0-21

21-35

35-70

70-100

A

0-14

Bbr

BbrgC

70-96

14-70

Bbrg

A

0-21

21-70

Bbr

BbrC

52-90

A

0-23

23-52

Bbrg

30-79

A

0-14

ABbr

BbrC

56-76

14-30

Bbr

15-76

6.30

5.90

6.08

5.40

5.45

5.30

5,31

6.00

5.90

5.79

5.32

5.25

5.20

5.37

5.05

5.10

6.60

5.85

5.30

0-15

A

[H2O]

Soil horizon

[cm]

Depth

pH

5.00

4.65

4.45

4.63

4.2.

4.15

3.98

4.44

4.24

4.52

3.93

3.83

3.80

4.09

3.91

3.90

5.33

4.36

4.22

[KCl]