THE evaluation of ecological factor s affecting environmental function s of the soil s in area of traditional agrarian structure s

Krnačova Z., Hreško J., Kanka R., Boltižiar M.: The evaluation of ecological factors affecting environmental functions of the soils in area of traditional agrarian structure. Ekologia (Bratislava),Vol. 32, No. 2, p. 248-261, 2013. Cultural landscape can be seen as a result of hundred years of founding and sensitive cultivation of landscape structures respecting natural conditions. Specific geomorphological, climatic as well as social conditions enabled the conservation of original agrarian landscape structures mainly in the marginal regions of Slovakia. They are created by mosaic structures of extensively used small-scale landscape elements of permanent agricultural and arable land. An example of traditional agrarian way of using is foothill meadow-grazing landscape of the village Liptovska Teplička. By using the traditional extensive maintenance of the agricultural landscape, optimal environmental characteristics of soils were preserved. These were modified to some extent by the way of using and management. The submitted contribution is focused on the following: • Indication of environmental characteristics of soils • Quantification of the influence of chosen ecological factors on these environmental functions Seven research localities representing main types of the traditional landscape maintenance were chosen for needs of the research of soil and environmental conditions in a relation with the way of using the land and management. In given localities, we chose 21 sampling sites for secondary landscape structure (according to the legend of project Corine Land Cover, 2000), geological, soil, physical, biochemical and chemical conditions evaluation. Environmental functions indication was assessed in the following way: by assigning an amount of organic carbon (Cox) in a standard way (Fiala et al., 1999) for production functions, by assigning a ratio of granular fractions (pipetting method according to Novak) for retention functions. Buffering functions were evaluated potentiometrically by assigning an active soil reaction of pH (H2O) and exchange reaction of pH (KCl) in a soil. Highest values of Cox in the Ap horizon (7.67-6.62%), as well as pH of the soil environment (pH/KCl 7.26-7.21, pH/H2O 7.69-7.68) were assigned to anthrosolic and cultisolic rendzinas of extensively used grasslands. On the contrary, the lowest monitored values of organic matter Cox (2.51-2.53%), as well as pH of the soil environment (pH/KCl 4.81-5.21) (pH/ H2O 5.21-6.19) were indicated for soil subtypes anthrosols of the large fields and lithosol of theextensively used grasslands on non-carbonate substrates. Most favourable production and buffering soil properties were preserved in rendzinas on the carbonate substrates and extensively used meadows. Similarly, this type of soil on limestone used in a form of extensive meadows preserved also the most favourable retention functions according to the stated ratio of granularity fractions. Quantification of the influence of chosen ecological factors on environmental functions was performed using multivariate statistical methods, specifically principal component analysis (PCA). PCA is an indirect gradient analysis using the linear correlation of data, with a biplot as an output. Closeness of points in ordination graph represents their similarity of composition. The CANOCO (Ter Braak, Šmilauer, 2002) software was used to perform the analysis and to create the graph.