The most sensitive and informative indicators of soils and living ground cover, reflecting hydromorphism degree of bog-podzolic soils

A detailed morphological study of bog-podzolic superficial-gleyed soils (sod-humus and peaty subtypes) and living ground cover within the soil-geochemical catena in Moscow region Solnechnogorsk district was conducted. For the first time, more than 20 morphological indicators of soils within the organogenic, eluvial and eluvial-illuvial parts of the profile were determined and analyzed over a thirty-year period. At the same time, the characteristics of the associated living ground cover (biomass, proportion of hygrophytes, moisture and trophicity scores according to L.G. Ramensky) were studied. Based on monitored indicators analysis, it was shown that convincing and reliable identification of the degree of bogging of a biogeocenosis is possible without additional analytical studies of soils and plants. Mathematical analysis of field research results indicates statistically significant relationships between the degree of swamping and such indicators as the proportion of hygrophytes, moisture score, litter thickness, the ratio of subhorizon reserves F/L, the thickness of the eluvial horizon, the depth of gleying from the lower boundary of the organogenic layer, and the abundance and size of nodules. It is likely that in the landscape, the soil serves as an “archive” of hydromorphism conditions of varying degrees, while the living ground cover can serve as a sign of swamping only at significantly pronounced process stages. The greatest contribution to the hydromorphism of the studied bog-podzolic surface-gleyed soils is made by: the groundwater level, the upper boundary of the appearance of signs of gleying from the lower boundary of the organogenic horizon, the general abundance of spots in the eluvial horizon, the average size of nodules in the eluvial-illuvial horizon.