Soil hydrology and soil properties on a partially reforested hillside in the Central Alps
2012
Grashey-Jansen, S., University of Augsburg (Germany). Inst. of Geography, Physical Geography and Quantitative Methods
The landscape on southern exposed hillsides in the inneralpine Vinschgau Valley (Northern Italy) is shaped by many thousand years of cultivation. Phases of intensive land use and deforestation were followed by phases of natural regeneration and later by governmental programmes of reforestation. The result in the present landscape is the juxtaposition of reforested woodland (RF-areas) and xeric grassland with steppe species (XG-areas) on the same hillside. The scenic and ecological contrast presents ideal conditions for comparative studies in ecology, forest and soil science. On the side of soil science especially the depth and intensity of soil development on the whole hillside have been underrated, whereas the existence of podzolised soils in the reforested area has mostly been overrated so far. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in the development of hillside soils, their recent hydrological and physical properties as well as their present dynamics. Some results of field and laboratory studies are presented. They are contradictory to results of other studies concerning this region.
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