What is soil? This is the topmost solid layer earth's crust on which plants live and develop. Soil is the main condition for plant life - a source of water and necessary nutrients.
To successfully engage in gardening, horticulture and floriculture, you need to understand the structure of the soil - after all, it can be successfully cultivated. This means, if necessary, we can change the composition of the soil, adapting it to the life of our plants.
Soil layers
The soil consists of four layers.
Wet soil layer
This surface soil layer, it is only 3-7 centimeters thick. The moistened layer is dark in color. In this layer there is a stormy biological activity– after all, most soil organisms live here.
Humus layer of soil
The humus layer is thicker than the moistened layer - approximately 10-30 centimeters. It is humus that is the basis of plant fertility. When the thickness of the humus layer is 30 cm and above, the soil is considered very fertile.
This layer is also inhabited by organisms - they recycle plant remains into mineral components, which in turn dissolve in groundwater and are then absorbed by plant roots.
Preferential layer
Preferential layer also called mineral. A huge amount of nutrients is concentrated in this layer, but the biological activity here is not at all great. However, the mineral layer also contains soil organisms that process nutrients into a form suitable for further consumption by plants.
Source rocks
Layer mother rocks not biologically active. It is quite fragile - if it is not protected by previous layers, it becomes thinner very quickly, as it is susceptible to leaching and weathering.
Mechanical composition of the soil
And what do the soil layers themselves consist of? They have four components: organic and inorganic solids, water and air.
Solid inorganic particles
Solid inorganic particles in soil include sand, stone and clay. Clay is a key component of soil because it can bind the soil and hold water and dissolved nutrients.
The space between solid soil particles is called pores. The pores perform a capillary role, delivering water to the roots of plants, as well as a drainage role, removing excess liquid, avoiding its stagnation.
Particulate matter
The organic part of the soil is humus (humus) and soil fauna.
Soil bacteria and other organisms absorb plant residues and organic waste, process and decompose them, resulting in the release of simple mineral compounds (primarily nitrogen) necessary for plant nutrition. This process of decomposition of organic matter in the soil by bacteria is called humification.
Humus is the most significant part of the soil:
Humus is “responsible” for converting any components found in the soil into a form available for plant nutrition.
In its natural state, humus is the soil's immune system. It improves plant health and increases their resistance to pathogens.
Humus creates an optimal loose soil structure in which all processes - oxygen and water exchange - are stabilized.
Soils rich in humus retain heat and warm up faster.
According to the degree of humus content, soils are divided into:
poor humus (less than 1% humus),
moderately humus (1-2%),
medium humus (2-3%),
humus (more than 3%).
Only humus soils are suitable for agricultural needs.
However, it should be clarified that if the soil is not properly cultivated and over-fertilized for many years, the biological activity of the soil fauna is significantly reduced. Then the amount of humus can remain high, but the soil becomes unsuitable for planting and not fertile.
 |
Soil water
Soil water is not just a pure liquid, it is nutrient solution, which contains organic and inorganic substances characteristic of soil. Water enters the soil through precipitation, from the air, from groundwater, and also through irrigation (if we are talking about soils used by humans).
Plants receive nutrition through soil water.
Different types of soil have different abilities to absorb and retain moisture.
Sandy soils absorb water best, but they also retain it poorly - because the distance between particles (pores) in such soils is greatest.
Clay soils do not absorb or remove water well due to their hard structure and minimum distances between solid particles.
The best soils in terms of structure are mixed humus soils, in which the structure is most balanced, so water is well absorbed, retained and carried to the roots of plants.
Soil air
Soil air also found between solid soil particles, along with water. It is needed to ensure the respiration of soil organisms and plant roots. Unlike the above-ground parts of plants, roots absorb oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. For this reason, there is more carbon dioxide in soil air compared to atmospheric air.
To provide plant roots with oxygen, loosen the soil. If there is not enough oxygen in the soil air, the growth of the plant root system slows down, and metabolism is also disrupted - the plant cannot fully absorb water and absorb nutrients. In addition, when there is a lack of oxygen in the soil, instead of the process of humification, the process of rotting occurs.
This explains the fact that even in seemingly well-moistened and nutritious soil, plants begin to feel depressed - they do not have enough oxygen for proper nutrition and health.
Dear club members, farmers. I offer my opinion about soil and agriculture. About the Earth as a carrier of soil
The word "Farmer" in Russian comes from the phrase to make land. Not to grow, but to make fertile land. The word "Earth" is used as a geographical, historical, mathematical, symbolic, literary symbol.
The term “Soil” refers to the biological, biophysical, biochemical environment or soil substrate. The soil is Living being. Soil is the stomach of plants. Soil is light plants. Soil is the environment where the root system of a plant is located.
Thanks to the soil, the plant is kept in an upright position and determines where is up and where is down. Soil is a part of the plant’s body. Soil is the habitat of nano and microflora and microfauna, through whose efforts natural soil fertility is created.
Soil fertility depends on its physical and biophysical state: looseness, density, porosity. Chemical and biochemical composition, presence of primary chemical elements and chemical elements that make up hydrocarbon-mineral-organic chains. Soil fertility can be artificial, mineral, chemical. And natural biological fertility.
Soil is thin layer, a unique component of the biosphere that separates the gas and solid environment of the planet’s biosphere.
In fertile soil, all life support processes for plants and animals begin, aimed at creating a healthy, fulfilling, stable life. This means that the full life of all earthly plants and animals depends on the condition of the soil.
Natural, unlimited soil fertility is created by: obsolete (remains) plant organic matter (hay, grass, straw, litter and sawdust, branches), and the remains of obsolete, deceased, animal organic matter. (microorganisms, bacteria, algae, microfungi, worms, insects and other animal organisms). Nano and microplants (algae). These animal microorganisms, integral representatives of fertile soil, are invisible to our eyes. The weight of the living part of the soil reaches 80% of its mass.
Only 20% of the soil mass is the dead mineral part of the soil. Living microflora and microfauna of fertile soil create living organic matter of plants from dead chemical elements and dead mineral-organic parts.
Living microflora and microfauna found in fertile soil are united by one name: “Soil-forming microflora and microfauna.” Together, soil-forming microflora and microfauna are united under one name: soil-forming microbiocenosis. Soil-forming microbiocenosis is a key link in restorative bioprocesses that create limitless, natural soil fertility.
Nature creates from plant-animal remains, with the help of soil-forming microflora and microfauna, an infinitely fertile, multi-layered soil structure. The infinitely fertile soil consists of five consecutive interdependent
layers. Successive layers of soil annually thicken, expand, grow, and move into each other. They create a fertile layer of chernozem and mineral clay. The first soil layer. Mulch.
Under a layer of mulch, nature has created a latrine for a variety of micro-animals and micro-insects. Worms, beetles, midges, fleas. The number of microanimals in fertile soil reaches several tons per hectare of land. This whole living army moves, moves, drinks, eats, fulfills its natural needs, reproduces, and dies. Dead bodies of animal organisms, bacteria, microbes, viruses, worms, insects, animals living in the soil, after death, decompose to their primary biogas and biomineral state.
All animal bodies are composed of large amounts of nitrogen compounds. Ammonia released during their decomposition and absorbed by the roots of plants.
Question. It is necessary to add nitrogen fertilizers to the soil if it contains a large number of living and various bacteria, microfungi, insects, various worms and many other plant and animal organisms?
Second soil layer; Vermicompost. Vermicompost is excretions, waste, feces, various micro-animals and insects. Thickness of vermicompost layer fertile soils, reaches 20 or more centimeters. (Vermicompost is processed in the stomachs of various worms and insects, the remains of the deceased root system of plants, plant and animal, organic remains. These are the food remains of microanimals and microinsects. Various midges and fleas). Vermicompost serves as colostrum for plants. Gives to the plant, through it root system, complete nutrition, which promotes development, stimulates the immune system and develops plant immunity. Protects the sprout emerging from the grain from stress. A grain sown in cold, dense and dark soil, from the first minutes of germination, finds itself in an unnatural situation not foreseen by the evolutionary process of development, and immediately falls into a stressful situation.
Vermicompost is plant colostrum. Vermicompost is necessary for plants in the first hours of their life for successful growth and healthy development. Likewise, animals that do not receive mother’s milk (colostrum) in the first minutes of their birth grow and become frail, weak, and sick. Likewise, plant seeds planted in a plowed, dug up, dead layer of cold soil, without vermicompost, grow frail and weak.
Third soil layer. Biomineral.
The biomineralized soil layer consists of natural remains of plant-animal organic matter and vermicompost. The biomineralized soil layer of soil, over many years, is gradually created by microorganisms, microplants, microanimals, from the top, mulching layer and the vermicompost layer. Atmospheric moisture (fog, dew, drizzle), atmospheric water (rain, melted snow, spring water), and atmospheric gases dissolved in them freely penetrate into the top mulch layer of soil. (Hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides. Carbon. Carbon oxides). All atmospheric gases are easily absorbed by atmospheric moisture and atmospheric water. And together (water and gases dissolved in it) penetrate into all underlying soil layers. A mulching layer of soil prevents drying out and weathering of the soil. Prevents soil erosion processes. Allows the superficial, fibrous, root system of plants to develop freely in a large area of soft, loose soil. Receiving from the soil abundant, digestible, natural bionutrition, moisture and atmospheric gases dissolved in it.
Microorganisms living in the upper, mulching layer of soil gradually, over many years, destroy the remains of moist plant and animal organic matter to its primary biogas and biomineral state. Biogases escape or are absorbed by the root system of plants. Biominerals remain in the soil and are gradually, over a number of years, absorbed by plants as bioavailable, biomineral plant nutrition. Various trace elements enter this biomineral layer from space, the atmosphere, and with ground moisture. Ground moisture is collected by plants with the help of main, tap, water, roots. The length of aquatic plant roots is equal to the height of the plants themselves or more. For example, in potatoes, depending on its variety, the length of the water main root reaches up to 4 meters in length. The mass of the root part of plants is 1.6 – 1.7 times greater than the above-ground mass. Therefore, plants do not need fertilizers. Plants grow for many years to come without fertilizing the soil. Due to the remains of their predecessors and the cosmic atmospheric mineral supply.
The fourth soil layer. Humus.
Humus is created by a variety of microorganisms, from deceased plant-animal organic matter, with LIMITED ACCESS to the underlying, compacted soil layers, atmospheric moisture and water with atmospheric gases dissolved in them.
The process of humus formation in the soil is called biosynthesis with the formation of plant humus, humus. In the process of biosynthesis of humus, energy-saturated HYDROCARBONS COMPOUNDS and combustible biogases are formed; carbon dioxide and methane gas series.
Humus acts as a source of hydrocarbon energy for plants. The accumulation of humus in the underlying layers of soil provides plants with warmth. Hydrocarbon compounds of humic acids warm plants in cold weather. Carbon dioxide and methane are absorbed by the root system of plants, soil-forming, nitrogen-fixing microflora and microfauna, creeping and low-growing plants. By creating bionitrogen accumulations in the soil.
The fifth layer of fertile soil. Subsoil, clay. This is a layer of clay located at a depth of 20 cm and deeper. The clay layer of the subsoil provides regulation of moisture and gas exchange of soil layers and underlying soils.
The top layer of soil, densely overgrown with herbaceous plants, is called turf in soil science. The well-being of the country depends on the fertility of this horizon. It is not for nothing that Franklin Delano Roosevelt (thirty-second President of the United States) said that a people who destroys the soil ultimately destroys itself.
The process of soil formation: why is fertility different everywhere?
The formation of soils on the globe is characterized by several stages. First, the destruction of rocks occurred under the influence of temperature changes, wind, and water. Small pieces formed rubble - these are primary minerals (quartz, etc.). It gave organic matter the opportunity to settle.
The first settlers were mosses, lichens, and microorganisms. Their vital activity changed the layer itself; it became suitable for the existence of higher plants in it. Next stage already depended on the climate: than more favorable conditions(higher temperature, less moisture, absence of prolonged frosts), the easier and faster the further process went. That is, in the southern regions, soils form faster than in the northern ones. The terrain affects this - the slopes cannot absorb moisture completely, the water runs down and stagnates there: the soils are different on the slopes and in the lowlands.
To summarize, we can say that different areas differ in mechanical composition - from sand to clay, in chemical composition - from turf to podzolic, and in water regime - from normal-natural to excess. They are found very rarely in pure form, forming different subtypes under the influence of various natural factors.
What is the top layer of soil called?
(vertical section) has several layers called horizons. The top fertile layer is called humus, the next is transitional, and the last is soil-forming.
The future of the planet depends on the thickness and composition (fertility) of the humus horizon. Unreasonable human influence has a detrimental effect on the condition of the soil - improper use of soil cultivation techniques to obtain ultra-high yields destroys the humus layer, and its erosion occurs. Deforestation and frequent fires are changing the green appearance of the planet. Wind and precipitation complete the destruction.
Living microorganisms work on it. Their living environment is: plant debris (grass, hay, fallen leaves, branches, mushrooms), animal debris (worms, insects, bacteria, microorganisms). Organic matter and chemical compounds called humus make up the humus horizon. Microflora and microfauna working to form and restore fertile soils are called microbiocenosis.
Layers of fertile soil
Mulch is the first layer of fertile soil.
This layer is under our feet - plant and animal remains. Under their layer live beetles, various worms, flies, and fleas. Their number can reach several tons per hectare. All this huge number of small creatures lead a fairly active lifestyle: they move, eat, reproduce, satisfy their natural needs, and ultimately die. Their remains decompose to their original state. The top layer of soil, densely overgrown with herbaceous plants, develops only under favorable conditions.
Vermicompost is the second layer of fertile soil.
It consists of waste products of microflora and microfauna of the first layer, their remains, and plant remains. In some areas its thickness is significant - up to 20 centimeters. Vermicompost serves as a medium through which plants not only receive adequate nutrition, but also maintain (develop) their immunity.
Ridiculous deep plowing (digging) destroys the layer of vermicompost, and the seeds sown after this process produce a frail plant.
Biomineral (third) layer of fertile soil.
The top layer of soil, densely overgrown with herbaceous plants, a layer of mulch protects the soil from drying out on the one hand, and on the other, allows moisture to penetrate deep inside. At the same time, decomposed plant remains are transported deeper along with vermicompost. Biochemical reactions occurring in this layer accumulate biomineral fertilizers for plant growth. The roots of plants, penetrating deeply into the soil (almost to the same depth as the height of the plants), receive complete nutrition from this layer.
The fourth layer of fertile soil is humus.
Microorganisms work in it under conditions of limited access to air and moisture, creating unique hydrocarbon compounds, carbon dioxide, methane and combustible biogases. This process is called biosynthesis, and it is what creates bionitrogen accumulations. This layer, on the one hand, warms the plants, and on the other, the plants, as well as microflora and microfauna, absorb the released carbon dioxide and methane. Thus, soil bionitrogen accumulations are formed.
Subsoil, clay - the fifth layer of fertile soil
It regulates moisture and gas exchange at a depth of more than 20 cm.
Classification of Russian soils according to V.V. Dokuchaev
Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (1846-1903), geologist and soil scientist, created a classification of Russian soils. Among the soils, according to their composition, he distinguished the following: clayey, sandy, loamy, peat, calcareous, turf, sandy loam.
Clayey
These are fertile, nutrient-rich, but difficult to cultivate soils. After drying they become very dense. To improve their structure, it is necessary to annually carry out a set of agrotechnical measures: digging, adding deciduous soil, manure, ash and peat.
Sandy
These are loose soils that easily permeate water. They are depleted in potassium and magnesium and require the addition of litter, mineral fertilizers(in small doses) and Only in this case can you get a top layer of soil overgrown with grass.
Loamy
These soils are very fertile: they are breathable on the one hand, and on the other hand they retain moisture well. But if you dig them up very often, a dense crust forms on top, preventing the flow of moisture.
Peat
These soils are sorely lacking in calcium and potassium and low in phosphorus. But if you add sand, lime and mineral fertilizers, after a while the soil will become monotonous and very fertile.
Limestone
There are quite a lot of such soils in Russia. Their composition is half lime, the rest clay or sand. In this case, the roots of the plants receive little water; it is retained by the crust on the surface.
Turf
The top layer of soil densely covered with herbaceous plants is the definition of turf. Such soils formed in vast open areas from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad and Kamchatka. The moisture and abundance of meadow grasses created a special microclimate in the fertile layer, which enriches the planted plants with minerals and organic matter just as well as black soil. These soils have long been used as hayfields and pastures.
Sandy loam
These lands easily absorb moisture without forming a crust. They warm up very quickly. Agrotechnical techniques for them include the application of peat, compost and manure.
Modern classification of soils
Since the 50s of the twentieth century, a new systematization of soils has been established, taking into account diagnostic indicators for accounting for soil formation regimes and modern environmental conditions.
The newest classification was published in 2000. It is called profile-genetic and takes into account the structure of the soil profile and its properties.
Natural resources and their isolated fragments as objects of rights have long been the subject of legal regulation, but not always qualitative certainty the relevant legal concepts are sufficient to ensure that regulation is carried out with the required efficiency. Such “legal insufficiency” is not characteristic of some secondary and secondary aspects, but of the most fundamental, initial provisions. In this regard, it would be appropriate to note that the long-awaited Land Code of the Russian Federation of October 25, 2001, in defining the basic concept of objects of land relations, turned out to be extremely laconic, establishing in Article 6 only that the objects of land relations are:
1) land as a natural object and natural resource;
2) land plots;
3) parts land plots.
At the same time, only a land plot received a relatively detailed definition as an object of land relations, which is understood as a part of the earth’s surface (including the soil layer), the boundaries of which are described and certified in the prescribed manner. But such a construction of a definition can hardly be considered successful: one unknown (a plot of land) is defined as a part of another unknown (the surface of the earth), and the latter includes a third unknown (the soil layer). Not only are they violated in this way logical rules definitions, but also, most importantly, the actual state of affairs is presented in a deformed form. Unfortunately, the current land legislation turned out to be impervious to the fact that not only in everyday life, but also in the language of law, there are the words “land” and “soil”, which refer to the same natural resource, but characterize it differently various sides. Concerning land, then this concept was “lucky” to a much greater extent than soil. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, land and other natural resources are used and protected in Russian Federation as the basis for the life and activities of the peoples living in the corresponding territory (Article 9 of Chapter 1 “Fundamentals of the Constitutional System”). In Chapter 2 of the Constitution, “Rights and freedoms of man and citizen,” the legislator again mentions land rights. Such attention to land in the Basic Law of the country is, of course, largely due to the urgency that the land issue has acquired in the course of recent socio-economic reforms. Developing these constitutional provisions, the Land Code (clause 1 of Article 1) speaks of land as a natural object protected as the most important component of nature, a natural resource used as a means of production in agriculture and forestry and the basis for the implementation of economic and other activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, and at the same time as about real estate, about the object of ownership and other rights to land. In relation to soil the legislator prefers not to speak out definitively. This is all the more strange since it is the soil that is the first and real value of the land in the above understanding of the latter. According to science, soil is a surface film one and a half to two meters thick with a radius globe 6000 kilometers, but in this vanishingly thin shell the potential is concentrated, allowing a person to receive about 99% of food, more than 95% of the planet’s gene pool - plants and animals - is concentrated in it. There are only 9% of soils suitable for farming in the world. In Russia, chernozem occupies only 7% of the territory, but 80% of agricultural products are obtained from it. At the same time, in Russia, as indeed in everything the world is coming the process of loss of fertile soils, which experts call the “silent crisis of the planet.” Every year, Russian arable land loses more than 1.5 billion tons of fertile layer, the increase in eroded areas reaches 1.5 billion hectares, the growth of ravines is 80 - 100 thousand hectares, every third hectare of arable land and pastures is eroded . It would seem that these data could already stimulate the legislator to develop a normative understanding soil, however, this has not yet happened. Even in the “core” Law of July 16, 1998 No. 101-FZ “On state regulation of ensuring the fertility of agricultural lands,” the concept of “soil” is not among the basic concepts and is used only as a complete synonym for “agricultural land.” In general, it is most difficult to define the things and phenomena that constitute the material and spiritual basis of the existence of man and humanity. The task of defining the concept “soil” is no exception. Even soil scientists approach the task of characterizing soil in completely different ways, using different starting points: from structural and qualitative and quantitative analytical parameters to emotional and poetic assessments .
Very timely was the initiative taken in 2001 by a number of deputies (Greshevnikova A.N. and others) to submit to the State Duma the draft Federal Law “On Soil Protection”, where soil as the initial concept was defined asThe surface layer of the earth, which forms the basis of life and is both a component of nature and a strategic natural resource, is an independent natural-historical organomineral natural formation that arose on the surface of the earth as a result of the long-term interaction of biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors, microflora, micro- and mesofauna, which has specific genetic characteristics. -morphological characteristics and properties and having fertility. Unfortunately, the idea of the bill did not receive support from the Government of the Russian Federation, which considered it inappropriate to consider it before the adoption of the Land Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”. Expectations that specifically “ground-level” issues will be resolved by future legislation did not materialize. Law “On Environmental Protection” natural environment" dated December 19, 1991 in all its editions (February 21, 1992, June 2, 1993, July 10, 2001) did not use the concept of soil, naming the land, its subsoil, surface and The groundwater, atmospheric air, forests and other vegetation, animal world, microorganisms, genetic fund, natural landscapes (Article 4). New edition This law of January 10, 2002 No. 7-FZ “On Environmental Protection” in relation to soils is also extremely laconic, using this term by listing them on a par with other components of the natural environment. The Land Code, as noted above, operates with the concept of soil only in the context of defining the concept land plot, and that was very unfortunate. Firstly, the Land Code does not indicate the actual relationship between land and soil as its surface, resulting in the impression that the presence of a soil layer is a sign only of a land plot, but not of land as such. Secondly, it remains unclear what the legislator meant by indicating that the soil layer is included in the surface of the earth "including". This mysterious vagueness and meaningfulness of the wording makes us assume the worst: since the soil layer is mentioned “including,” it means that the legislator knows more about the structure of the earth’s surface than representatives of the natural sciences. Fortunately, this fear is not based on anything (except the text of the Land Code). As before (and, we dare to hope, in a visible perspective), the soil layer was and remains the surface of the earth (of course, and the land plot as part of the earth) without any “including”. In defining such basic concepts Any approximation and vagueness are unacceptable. But, thirdly, the Land Code creates another one, now really practical problem. Pointing out that "“a plot of land is a part of the surface of the earth, the boundaries of which are described and certified in accordance with the established procedure,” the legislator is clearly not guided by the task of determining qualitative parameters and spatial boundaries of the soil layer, while the characteristics of a land plot as a discrete object civil rights Without this data, in our opinion, it is impossible.
Federal Law of January 2, 2000 No. 28-FZ “On the State Land Cadastre” determined in Art. 14 (clause 2), that the Unified State Register of Lands contains the following basic information about land plots: cadastral numbers; location(address); square; category of land and permitted use of land plots; description of the boundaries of land plots and their individual parts; property rights and restrictions (encumbrances) registered in accordance with the established procedure; economic characteristics, including the amount of payment for land; quality characteristics, including indicators of the state of land fertility for certain categories of land; the presence of real estate objects firmly connected with land plots. It is easy to see that at least some possibility of taking into account the parameters of the soil layer of a land plot during cadastral registration of land exists only in relation to certain categories of land, specifically agricultural land, since the law connects such an assessment with the tasks of studying fertility indicators. By Order of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Land Policy dated November 22, 1999 No. 84, documents for maintaining the State Land Cadastre were put into effect, from which it follows that the characteristics of the quality of agricultural land are reduced mainly to a description of characteristics that reduce fertility (salinity, acidity, rockiness, erosion and deflationary danger, excess moisture, etc.). This line can be traced in Art. 12 of the Federal Law of June 18, 2001 “On Land Management”, according to which the assessment of land quality is carried out in order to obtain information about the properties of land as a means of production in agriculture. Other purposes of land use, apparently, are not considered as a reason for discussing the quality of land. However, land quality is primarily (if not exclusively) soil quality. The soil forms the surface any plot of land, but the surface is not as an ideal outer shell, but as a very real, physically tangible layer of soil, this “rust of the Earth,” having certain dimensions both in plane and in depth. This circumstance is very significant: it is difficult to imagine land plot, from which the soil layer was carefully collected and transported to another place. Will it such"groundless" area land- this is a big question, and not only of a theoretical nature .
Compulsory essential feature of any land plot (regardless of its purpose), in our opinion, should be the spatial and qualitative characteristics of the soil layer, and such characteristics should be included in the description (establishment) of the boundaries of the land plot as an object of law. This is necessary at least for the reasons that the establishment of spatial and qualitative boundaries of the soil layer makes it possible to distinguish between the scope of land legislation and the “sphere of responsibility” of subsoil use legislation. As stated in the preamble of the Law of February 21, 1992 "On Subsoil", the subsoil is part of the earth's crust located below the soil layer, and in its absence - below the earth's surface and the bottom of reservoirs and watercourses, extending to depths accessible for geological study and development . Based on this norm, it can be seen that the soil layer is not only component“earth”, but also a kind of border separating “earth” from the subsoil. Below the soil layer the subsoil begins, above the soil layer the air space extends . If everything seems clear with the definition of the lower boundary of the airspace, then with regard to the upper boundary of the subsoil there is a rather serious problem. The fact is that the law, while correctly characterizing the subsoil as part of the earth’s crust, “skips” over the fact that another integral part The earth's crust is the soil layer lying above the subsoil. Where is the border between them, it's not always clear .
Increasingly, practitioners are asking questions that few people seriously worried about in the previous economic system. For example, the construction of underground structures (communications, underground passages, garages, fuel storage facilities, shopping malls, etc.), which requires digging a pit with excavation and removal of the soil layer, may involve registration of land allotment, allocation of a subsoil plot, or both. But it is clear that in legal and economic terms these options are by no means equivalent and not interchangeable. It is possible to determine exactly what kind of relationship will arise in this case - land use and/or subsoil use - only taking into account the parameters (in particular, depth) of the soil layer on the corresponding land plot. The issue becomes particularly acute in cases where above-ground and underground spaces are developed by different economic entities. There are also situations when the method of placement (above-ground or underground) of functionally similar objects decides the issue of changing the intended purpose of a land plot; accordingly, it is recognized or not recognized preemptive right the tenant of the land plot, who properly fulfilled his duties, to conclude a lease agreement for new term(Article 621 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) . Now, after the entry into force of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, similar problems will arise in geometric progression. But given the existing regulatory uncertainty regarding the soil layer and its spatial and qualitative characteristics, courts will not always have reliable tools in their hands to resolve emerging conflicts. It seems that the issue of the definiteness of boundaries, the discreteness of a land plot, could be resolved by analogy with the determination of the spatial boundaries of subsoil plots. Yes, Art. 2 of the Law “On Subsoil” determines that the state subsoil fund consists of used areas, which are geometrized blocks of subsoil, and unused parts of subsoil within the territory of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf. In the same way the land plots used can be defined as geometrized blocks of the soil layer, which will create in the establishment legal boundaries used (in use and in circulation) land plots with the required clarity. Gazette of the SND and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, 03/05/1992. No. 10. Art. 457.
NW RF, 01/14/2002. No. 2. Art. 133.
The same mistake, following the Land Code, is repeated by the Federal Law “On Land Management” dated June 18, 2001 No. 78-FZ, in Art. 11 of which it is established that soil, geobotanical and other surveys and surveys are carried out in order to obtain information about the condition of the land, including soil. It must, however, be taken into account that current legislation recognizes the existence of earth surfaces without soil cover, but it is unlikely that such “soilless” surfaces can be considered land in sections.
It is known that when discussing the draft of the new Land Code, one of the arguments in the dispute was the possibility of “wasting” the soil layer, its sale and export as an independent product. It should be noted that in purely technical terms such a possibility exists. And from a legal point of view, the transportability of the soil layer is beyond doubt. So, for example, paragraph 4 of Art. 13 of the Land Code directly stipulates that when carrying out activities related to soil disturbance construction work and mining operations, the fertile soil layer is removed and used to improve unproductive lands. A rather curious situation arises: a significant necessary part of the land plot, which is classic real estate, turns out to be completely movable. This circumstance has not yet been subjected to an exhaustive analysis, which, perhaps, can lead to a revision of some theoretical provisions on the relationship between movable and immovable property.
In Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation, airspace is understood as airspace over the territory of the Russian Federation, including airspace over internal waters and the territorial sea.
The literature rightly notes that ownership of subsoil is sometimes combined with ownership of the earth's surface, but such a combination is not mandatory. This means that the current legislation on subsoil “breaks” the right to the subsoil and the right to the surface of the earth. – See, for example: Sheinin L. B. Underground farming: legal regulation// Journal of Russian Law. 2001. No. 11. But it is clear that in such conditions it is all the more necessary to reliably distinguish between the subsoil as an object owned by the state, on the one hand, and the soil layer of the land plot located above the subsoil plot, which may belong to other entities.
Federal Decree Arbitration Court Moscow District dated July 5, 2001 in case No. KG-A40/3340-01.
To be specific, we will call the surface layer of soil the topmost, less than 5 cm layer of soil plus plant litter on it. We can say that this is a thin layer between heaven and earth, on their border.
The Importance of Topsoil
The surface layer of soil has exclusively big influence on the soil, on its root-inhabited part. If the surface layer is smooth and dense, then it is easily warmed up by the spring sun and the frozen soil quickly thaws after a frosty winter. Moisture easily rises through capillaries from the depths of the soil to its very surface and evaporates. But it is enough to loosen the surface layer shallowly, about 5 cm, in order to destroy the capillaries at the very surface, and the moisture will be retained in the root layer and will water the plants even in the absence of rain for a long time. The surface layer enriched with oxygen and warmed by warm air will create comfortable conditions for the respiration of plant roots and their development, for the development of soil microorganisms that “frozen out” during the winter, various soil worms, and insects. However, if this continues for a long time, then the bare, uncovered soil, under the influence of wind, rain, and hot sun, gradually loses its fertility, its structure is destroyed, nutrients are decomposed or washed away.
But in natural conditions, the surface layer of soil is naturally protected by plants and covered with plant litter - dead parts of plants and herbs. About the same thing happens in the root layer of the soil - dead roots different plants form "underground litter". Moistened and warmed litter, with a lack of oxygen, serves as food for various soil microorganisms, which decompose it into simpler compounds, which partly, together with water, enter the root layer of the soil. Living plants also feed soil microorganisms with their root secretions.
Half-destroyed organic matter of litter and dead microorganisms, root secretions of living plants are used by the following (in a chain) soil microorganisms - while some (aerobic), in the presence of oxygen, continue to destroy it into even simpler compounds - nutrients absorbed by plants, while others (anaerobic) ), in conditions of lack of oxygen, they also use incoming organic matter for their needs. But how can both types of microorganisms exist simultaneously? To do this, anaerobic microorganisms produce a special glue - “fresh” humus. This humus glue is used by anaerobes to glue soil particles into lumps like grains - aggregates. It is inside these lumps of soil (aggregates) that anaerobes create comfortable conditions for themselves with a lack of oxygen. And oxygen lovers, supplying partially destroyed organic matter, live outside these soil grain aggregates. And the soil, as a result of such symbiosis, becomes granular (structural), i.e. "cultured" and fertile.
If you look at the topmost layer of soil in a meadow, you can see that it is heavily penetrated by superficial plant roots, which are often woven into dense turf. Moreover, the thinnest, absorbing roots tightly entwine the lumps of soil. This means that it is in them that plants receive the most nutrients. And this is where most microorganisms live. After all, living plants themselves are not parasites: they feed the soil microflora with their root secretions. And it is in the root layer that the granular structure of the soil appears. And this is where most humus is formed. From this observation, Academician Williams’ famous grass-field system for restoring soil fertility was born.
Forest litter and meadow turf
The influence of leaf litter in forests and meadow sod on the soil differs significantly. In forests, there is usually no black, humus-rich layer of soil under the forest floor. On the contrary, in steppes and meadows there is almost always a black, humus-rich layer of soil, or even black soil. What is the reason for such a big difference?
There is not too much difference, as it seems at first glance, in the composition of the litter: woody leaves in one case and the remains of herbaceous, usually cereal plants, in the other. The absence of direct sunlight under the forest canopy and its presence all day in the steppes. Usually acidic leached soil, especially in northern forests and carbonate, often salted soils in southern steppes with thick chernozem horizons.
C:N ratio (carbon: nitrogen)
If we say the same thing in other words, we get this: the ratio of carbon to nitrogen C:N in leaf litter of the forest floor is much higher than for residues herbaceous plants, therefore, forest litter is decomposed mainly by fungi, which process it into highly soluble fulvic acids, which, unlike humic acids, do not form humus. In addition, the decomposition of any leaves produces a lot of acids. Similar processes occur when acidic, unaerated peat is incorporated into the soil.
Unlike leaves, the C:N ratio for herbaceous plant residues (about 35-65) is much more favorable for many types of soil microorganisms, including soil bacteria that require nitrogen for development. In this case, humic acids are synthesized, forming humus.
Soil, acidity and calcium
The acidity of the soil itself has a very large influence on the predominant microflora: acidic environment is more favorable to fungi, and weakly acidic, neutral and slightly alkaline are generally more favorable to soil bacteria, although there are also fungi that are resistant to such an environment. IN neutral soil more diverse soil microflora, among which there are many species beneficial to plants. For most plants, neutral and slightly acidic soil reactions are also most favorable.
In addition to the fact that calcium and magnesium reduce soil acidity, they form water-resistant compounds with humic acids and contribute to soil structuring. The best soil-forming rocks for the formation and fixation of humus are loams, especially carbonate loess, loess-like loams in black earth steppes.
Water meadows, top layer of settled silt
Since ancient times, the most successful and long-lasting farming has been in the flooded meadows of rivers. A small layer of fine particles of organic matter and clay covered the flooded meadows and the remains of plants on them after the flood. And it was these lands that could be used for centuries for agriculture without destroying their fertility.
Soil improvement
In addition to organic matter and moisture, the sun's rays intensively penetrate into the top layer of soil, the thermal regime improves, the diversity and number of microorganisms increases, which reduce the number of pathogens. However, some pathogens can survive on infected plant debris on the soil surface. However, when adding NP (nitrogen-phosphorus) or complete fertilizer, humus/compost to the top layer of mineral fertilizers, or even sprinkling infected plant residues with soil, it enhances biological activity and improves soil health from pests(completely suppresses them during the season). In this case, the decomposition and disinfection of infected plant residues occurs much faster than when they are plowed into the soil.
Revitalizing topsoil in spring
The surface layer of soil enriched with oxygen and warmed by the sun will create comfortable conditions for the development of soil microorganisms that have “frozen out” during the winter, among which there are many useful ones that improve the health of the soil and increase its fertility. But in the spring there are very few of them and they develop more slowly than harmful ones. Therefore, it will be useful to accelerate the development of beneficial microorganisms. To do this, you can use mulching with compost, manure humus, water the surface layer of soil with their infusions (warm infusions, warm water), infusions of cultures of beneficial microorganisms (bacillus subtilis, trichoderma, etc.). In my opinion, one should not refuse preparations of the so-called “EM - effective microorganisms” containing a complex of beneficial microorganisms. These are primarily “Shine”, “Baikal” and the like: Tamir, Vozrozhdenie, etc. Beneficial soil microorganisms will suppress pathogens of plant diseases and quickly start a chain of restoration of ecological balance (organic matter, microorganisms, worms and insects, etc.).
Worms and insects
The top layer of soil, organic residues, protects the soil from the action of wind, rain, and hot sun, which destroy the soil structure. A loose top layer with a large amount of organic matter stimulates the reproduction of soil insects and earthworms. Earthworms, with their moves, help improve the structure of the soil; in addition, they drag plant remains deep into the soil and bring to the surface heaps of earth from their esophagus - caprolites (the so-called vermicompost), containing many nutrients for plants and rich in beneficial soil microflora. IN top layer The soil is home to many insects, many of which are useful (for example, predatory ground beetles) or are an important link in the ecological balance, including the most important food link for small animals and birds. Interestingly, some pests on moist, rich organic matter do not damage plants in the soil, but feed on soil organic matter (so-called “facultative” pests). An example is the wireworm (the larva of the click beetle), which is more aggressive in poor organic matter or dry soil.
Glade
excerpt from V. Grebennikov’s book “My World”
“Changes, of course, are happening, but now that this meadow has become almost exactly the same as it was before people, the changes are taking place slowly and unnoticeably, and only the experienced eye of an ecologist can detect them. Take, for example, the soil. Fat, rich black soil, disintegrating in the hand into weighty, durable, moist grains, like crumbly but very dark buckwheat porridge - it continues to form here, unlike neighboring hayfields and especially arable lands, every year, every day and hour, except, of course, In winter, when the grass is not mowed, its dry remains lie down right there and, with the help of rain and sun, bacteria and insects, ticks and other living creatures, turn into good humus, and in this fertile place, in the steppe corner between the tufts, there is a layer of the most fertile humus. it is growing much faster than what happened in the treeless steppes - half a centimeter a year, or even a centimeter! The middle of the Glade - I specifically measure it - has risen by 14 centimeters over the past fifteen years, and all of it now looks raised, high; this is especially noticeable in late autumn or in early spring, when there is no foliage on the trees, and there is no snow in the Glade."
