Soil composition and properties: a case study of Shilovsky Upland Oak Forest (Russia)

The paper deals with environmental properties properties of the soil cover taken from the Upland Oak Forest (Voronezh region, Russia). Morphological structure, physical and chemical properties, humus content and nutrients in urban forest soils are important for assessing their ecological status. Forest soils are characterized by a low degree of disturbance and close to the morphological structure to of the natural analogs outside the cities. Dark grey forest-steppe soils have the most favorable environmental properties. The low contents of total forms of heavy metals allows for the consideration of these soils in the category of environmentally friendly. The highest contents are characterized by the humus horizons of dark grey and grey forest-steppe soils, which maximum content is for Mn 754, Zn 49, Cu 13, Pb 16, Ni 25, Cd 0.26, Cr 60, Co 9, As 0.1, and for Hg 0.1 mg/kg. The content of mobile forms of heavy metals reaches Mn 105, Zn 0.9, Cu -.5, Pb 1.8, Ni 2.6, Cd 0.08, Cr 0.2, and Co 2.9 mg/kg. The obtained data can be used to assess the degree of disturbance and anthropogenic impacts on anthropogenic-altered urban soils. The study area may be used as a background in assessment of the urban environment.