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Soil researches of recreational areas and street protective green plantations were carried out in Alytus city in 2009-2019, in accordance with the "Greenery and Green plantations Condition Monitoring Program, 2008". The soils in the park areas are noncarbonated, with a predominantly sandy fraction and poorly structured. Soil near streets have been found to be alkaline (pH 6.7-7.9), less alkaline (pH 8.2-8.4); in the area of newly planted streets and recreational greenery - alkaline (7.1-7.9). The amounts of P, Na, Ca, Mg, Cl correspond to the background indicators of Lithuanian soils. According to the amount of mobile potassium (K2O), soil is low in potassium and mobile phosphorus (P2O5) varies from low amount (51-100 mg kg-1) to high amount (> 200 mg kg-1) groups. The main amount of heavy metals were present under the limits of background concentration (or less). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil as an ecosystem is actively involved in the climate formation process. Therefore, it is important to assess soil quality indicators such as total carbon and CO2 emissions. Soil respiration shows carbon emission from soil into the atmosphere. This is a great indicator illustrating the biological activity of soil. The most effective CO2 emission can be noticed in the afternoon and may reach 0,201 g CO2 m-2h-1. Soil organic matter is considered to be its indicator of quality, which is one of the most important components of biosphere consistency and stability. Following the conducted study, a significant trend towards the content of total carbon in the layer of the surface (0-10 cm) soil was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]