The comparative analysis of biological activity in chernozem soils of the Elbrusskiy and Terskiy variants of vertical zonation in the Central Caucasus (within Kabardino-Balkaria)

The parameters of biological activity (humus content and reserves, content and reserves of microbial biomass carbon, enzymatic activity of the hydrolase class (invertase, phosphatase, urease) and oxidoreductase class (catalase, dehydrogenase)) in upper horizons (0-20 cm) of chernozem soils formed under different ecologic-geographical conditions of natural biogeocenoses in the elbrusskiy and terskiy variants of vertical zonation in the Central Caucasus (within plain and piedmont area of Kabardino-Balkaria), are studied. The comparative analysis of biological activity in genetic pairs of chernozem subtypes - southern, common, typical and leached chernozems from different variants of vertical zonation hasn’t revealed statistically significant differences between values of biological characteristics. The comparative assessment for geographical variation of total biological activity in genetic homogeneous chernozem subtypes according to their location in different natural and climatic variants of vertical zonation with integral index of biological state (IIBS), is given. It is shown, chernozem subtypes of the elbrusskiy variant differ 1-7% from analogous soils of the terskiy variant by values of IIBS that testifies to similarity of biological properties in the soils developed under given variants of vertical zonation.