Renaturalization of arenosols in the land afforested with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and abandoned arable land

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the renaturalization of chemical parameters and the ground vegetation of Haplic Arenosols (ARh), when arable land was abandoned or afforested with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plantations. It was found that over a 45-year period the former ploughing Ap horizon had been renaturalized according to the increase of Al3+ ions concentrations and the increase in acidity in pine plantations. Due to the accumulation and decomposition of acidic (pHCaCl2 3.6) soil organic layer, the mosses of Vaccinio-myrtillosa forest type spread in the ground vegetation cover. The decreases in the concentrations of organic carbon, total nitrogen (N) and, especially, mineral N reflected the renaturalization of Haplic Arenosols in a previously intensively fertilized arable land abandoned for an 11-year-period. Vascular plants that indicate non-fertile soils with low pH values prevailed in the ground vegetation cover.