ANTHROPOGENIC TRANSFORMATION OF MOUNTAIN-FOREST SOILS IN THE NORTH-EAST PART OF THE LESSER CAUCASUS (IN THE BASIN OF BABADJAN RIVER)

Abstract

Our planet needs the rational use of forest resources and forest soils in order to combat erosion and preserve the biosenosis. Soils provide the basis for the growth of trees and woodlands, and are an essential component of forests and forest ecosystems, as they are involved in the regulation of such important processes as the absorption of nutrients, their decomposition and maintenance of water balance. By reducing the risk of soil erosion and the threat of landslides and avalanches, the sustainable use of forest resources greatly contributes to the functioning of the systems responsible for maintaining the planet’s clean water supply, as well as a balanced water cycle. In the soil environment, trees develop root systems and in turn, forest trees and vegetation in general are an important factor in protecting the soil cover. The authors have examined the natural and anthropogenic degradation of brown mountain-forest soils under a beech forest, brown mountain-forest soils under hornbeam and oak forests in the north-eastern part of the Lesser Caucasus in the Babadjan river basin. The erosional relief of the studied region is represented by highly dissected low mountains, middle mountains and mountain basins, which are rather densely indented by mountain rivers. In conditions of such a relief, soils are well developed in dry low mountains and in the humid part of the middle mountains. To clarify the effect of soil properties on the growth and development of tree species in forest communities of the study area, soil sections were laid. The influence at altitudes of 950-1800 m above sea level, the slope of the relief, the exposure of slopes, the composition of the forest cover, the lithological composition of the parent rocks, the physic-chemical composition of the soil and other factors on the intensity of the degradation process in different ecosystems have been studied