Cellulose’s decomposing capability of cryogenic soils (Central Evenkia)

The global ecological meaning of Siberian forest permafrost ecosystems is biological diversity con-servation, the planet's climate regulating and biota adaptation possibilities to existence in extreme conditions and global climate changes impact on them. Soil diagnosis with biological characteristics gives sufficient information about their actual and potential capabilities and contributes to the most accurate prediction of the reaction of the soil envi-ronment as a component of ecosystems. The aim of the research was to evaluate potential and actual cellulose’s decomposing cryogenic soil activity in the north taiga larch forest. The objects of the re-search were larch forest dwarf shrub - feather moss forms on the southern and northern slope ex-posure. Cellulose’s decomposing soil ability was determined with applicator and weighting methods of E. Mishustin and A. Petrova. Actual activity cel-lulose’s decomposing analysis of investigated soils in the warm period of the year showed depressive situation of biological processes. For three month expositions in natural conditions of southern and northern slopes about 7 per cent of cellulose was decomposed. On the northern slopes the litter had a maximum activity, on the southern slopes mineral soil layer had it. On one of the southern slopes studies were carried out a year later after a fire. The data of cellulose’s decomposing actual activity on the southern slope show that there was a sti-mulating impact from a pyrogenic factor - in the first year after the fire, the loss of fat was 62 per cent, which is more than 10 times higher than it was in the slopes undisturbed by fire. High activity of cellulose’s decomposing on the southern undis-turbed by fire slope was marked during the cold pe-riod of the year: cellulose’s decomposing in the lit-ter was about 40 per cent, and in the mineral part of the soil it was 2 times lower.