Biological Activity of Modern and Buried Dry-Steppe Chestnut
Soils

N. N. Kashirskaya^a, T. E. Khomutova^a, T. S. Demkina^a, K. A. Salmanova^b,
Yu. S. Kuznetsova^b, and V. A. Demkin^a

^aInstitute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences,
ul. Institutskaya 2, Pushchino, Moscow Oblast, 142290 Russia

^bSouth Federal University, Department of Biology and Soil Science,
ul. Bol’shaya Sadovaya 105, Rostov-on-Don, 344066 Russia

e-mail: kashirskaya81@rambler.ru

Received April 13, 2012

Abstract—A comparative assessment of the biological activity of modern chestnut soils and chestnut soils bur-
ied beneath the Caucasian line set by Anna Ioannovna (1718–1720) on the dry steppes of the Volga Upland was
carried out based on determination of enzymatic activity and the state of microbial communities. It was found
that, in the modern soil, maximal values of microbial parameters and phosphatase activity, but a minimal value
of the humification coefficient were observed in the A1 horizon, whereas in paleosoil, these values were found
in the B1 horizon. This fact is consistent with the data on more humid and cold climate during the construction
of the historical monument.

Keywords: chestnut soils, paleosoil, microbial communities, biomass and number of microorganisms, enzy-
matic activity, dry steppes, climate

DOI: 10.1134/S2079096113020030

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