Soils of the cold stony alpine desert belt of the Khibiny mountains

Abstract

The characteristic of typical and humus petrozems of the most high-altitude belt zone of the Khibiny, formed under three predominant types of plant groups corresponding to different stages of primary succession, is presented. For these soils, there is no differentiation of the profile by the content of most elements, with the exception of phosphorus, which is concentrated in the surface organogenic horizons. According to many chemical and phy sicalchemical properties, the soils of the char belt are close to Entic Folic Podzols formed in the underlying mountain-tundra belt under shrubby vegetation. The biological activity of petrozems below or is comparable with this parameter in the soil of shrub tundra. It was found that as the structure of vegetation becomes more complex, the activity of microorganisms increases and the organic matter of the soil stabilizes. Overall, the microbial community of petrozems well adapted to extreme conditions.

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