The influence of trees and shrubs vegetation of sheltered forest strips on the characteristics of the steppe soil cover

The soil in forest plantations is in constant close interaction with woody and shrubby plants. It acts as a determining factor in creating optimal conditions for the existence of natural and artificially created forest communities. Modern steppe afforestation has a number of unresolved questions regarding the nature and degree of influence of tree-shrub vegetation on the soil typical for the steppe zone – ordinary chernozem, and the feasibility of creating tree-shrub ecosystems of various practical importance in the steppe conditions of Ukraine. The paper presents the results of the study of the impact of tree and shrub vegetation of forest strips on their soil cover. The content of humus, exchangeable and hydrolytic acidity of soils, acidity of salt extract from the soil in the soils of forest belts were determined іn the edaphotops of five forest strips created on the territory of the Prysamarsky International Biosphere Reserve, located in the village of Andriivka, Novomoskovsk district, Dnipropetrovsk region. The obtained data were compared with the similar results of measurements of the soil indicators of a typical for the study region of the site of the variegated-grassy-grassy-cobaceous steppe. A comparison of the humus content in the soil under tree plantations of forest strips and steppe virgin lands confirms the theory of a positive relevant effect of the forest on steppe soils and the formation of forest-improved chernozems under tree plantations in steppe conditions. The exchangeable acidity of the soils of the forest strips ranged from 0.2 to 0.8 mg-eq. per 100 g of soil, and the value of hydrolytic acidity was from 0.52 to 2.11 mg-eq. per 100 g of soil, and the maximum values ​​of both types of acidity were noted in the 20–50 cm horizon of the PP 224 oak plantation. The obtained characteristics of the soil cover of forest strips will be useful for clarifying the directions and features of the influence of tree-shrub vegetation on ordinary chernozem in the conditions of the steppe zone of Ukraine and can serve as valid arguments in making decisions regarding the creation of field-protective tree-shrub plantations within the steppe zone of Ukraine.