Sergey Andreevich Avetyan

The influence of recreation on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) reserves in the litter and upper mineral horizons of soils of larch stands in Izmailovsky Park, Moscow, was studied. The objects of study - a recreationally disturbed larch forest (third stage of digression) and a control larch forest (first stage of digression). The following indicators were determined: carbon and nitrogen reserves in all litter subhorizons, as well as in different fractions of subhorizon L, reserves of total and labile C and N in the 0–10 cm layer of the mineral part of the soil profile. It has been shown that under recreational load, the accumulative role of litter decreases compared to the control, and the difference in the reserves of C and N in litter by the components of tesserae is leveled out. The decrease in the reserves of C and N in litter is determined by the decrease in the total reserves of the litter itself. Significant losses of C and N from the humified and fermentative litter subhorizons due to recreation were detected. Maximum C and N losses from the litter correspond to the near-trunk spaces. Within the L-F-H litter profile, maximum losses are observed in the humified subhorizon in the sub- and inter-crown spaces. Under recreational loads corresponding to the third stage of soil degradation, no changes in C and N accumulation in the upper mineral soil horizon were recorded.