Microbiological indicators of meadow-brown soils of natural cenoses

The article presents data on microbiological indicators of meadow-brown soils of semi-humid subtropics of the Lenkoran region. Meadow-brown soils are typical representatives of a number of hydromorphic soils of Azerbaijan. These soils are formed under sparse forests and shrub plantations with well-developed herbage. The soil-forming rocks are deluvial-proluvial deposits of clay composition. The influence of groundwater and surface runoff on soil formation is periodic. In the described soils, biological processes, including the activity of microorganisms, take place at moderate moisture level (10-25%) and temperature (18-23 °C). The paper presents a comparative analysis of the total number of microorganisms (in a layer of 0-50 cm) between typical meadow-brown, meadow-brown leached, meadow-gray-brown and gray-earth-meadow soils. We have shown changes in the total amount of microbiota for individual horizons of meadow-brown soils. Changes in the quantitative indicators of the microbiota of the studied soils also affect their overall biogenicity. A close relationship has been established between humus and the number of microorganisms. As the humus decreases in individual horizons, an adequate decrease in the number of microbiota is noted. If in 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-15 cm layers the amount of microbiota varied between 6,13-5,83-4,81 million per gram of soil, then in deeper layers of 15-20 cm, 20-25 cm, 30-40 cm, 35- 50 cm, their number graduallydecreases to 3,9-3,10-2,65-1,81-1,52 million per gram of soil.