Soil properties under different vegetation types in the Arboretum Mlyňany

Abstract

The influence of oak trees, and introduced Himalayan pine and Japanese cedar on soil chemical and microbial characteristics was observed in the Arboretum Mlyňany. The original growth on the studied area was an oak-hornbeam forest, therefore the soil under the rest of oak forest was taken as a control. The obtained results showed that changed growth of tree species strongly affected soil microbial and chemical properties. Highly significant (P < 0.001) differences in Ahorizons between the studied stands were found for soil reaction, sorption characteristics, nutrient content (N, P, K), soil organic matter (SOM), and soil microbial biomass. Significantly (P < 0.001) the strongest acidity, the highest total organic carbon content (C τ), microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) and its proportion of Cτ were found in A horizon of the soil under oaks. Higher microbial colonisation of oak soil was probably due to composition of susceptible organic matter and to biodegradation rather than by its amount. We suppose that lower humus quality under deciduous oaks was due to carbonate-less soil forming substrate and the longer period of influence the oak trees (more than 116 years) on soil compared to coniferous pine and cedar trees (45 years).