The potential study aimed to examine the influence of microorganisms, phytomass (green plants), and invertebrates on the agrophysical, agrochemical, and biological properties of mountain-forest brown soils. Mountain-forest dark brown soils develop in moderately warm and humid climate conditions. These soils have characteristics of air temperature from 6.0 °C to 11.9 °C), a large amount of precipitation (570–950 mm), low evaporation, and a high moisture coefficient (MC = 1.0–1.5). Mountain-forest dark brown soils remain confined to the lower belt of dry forests and shrubs. The total content and reserves of humus, total nitrogen, the composition, exchange cations, acidity, and temperature-humidity indicators entailed a comparative determination. Graphical analysis established the relationships between phytomass, the amount of microorganisms, and humus content. Likewise, the analysis identified the association between the total humus content and the absorption capacity of these soils, which limit the values of hydrothermal indicators of the soil biological activity. The results further revealed that in mountain-forest dark brown soils, the amount of microorganisms was greater than in mountain-forest brown soils, despite the phytomass reserves formation in the latter being 1.5–2.1 times more.
Vegetation, microorganisms, agrochemical content, acidity, soil mesofauna, phytomass, bio-ecological indicators
This study determined the effect of microorganisms, phytomass, and invertebrates on the agrophysical, agrochemical, and biological properties of mountain-forest brown soils. Sorption interactions, formed between the absorption capacity (cations and clay minerals) and soil humus, resulted in the formation of clay-humus complexes.