Search

The total area of agricultural land in Europe and Slovenia is constantly decreasing, causing the loss of a potential for food production and self-sufficiency capacity. In addition to limiting soil sealing, one of the main objectives of the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 involves recultivating degraded sites, which requires appropriate materials, in particular for fertile, top layers.Due to the complexity of the restoration process of agricultural land, the ability of the restored areas to provide full or any scope of ecosystem services as expected depends on several factors. What the opencast mines have in common is the removal of the top, fertile part of the soil in the exercising of mining rights. The availability of fertile soils with suitable properties is often one of the main limitations for appropriate recultivation. Whilst less fertile soil or even inert construction or industry residuals may be used to recultivate the lower layers, the top layers require using engineered soils with appropriate physical, biological and chemical properties. These properties depend on the purpose of the final use of sites. Apart from making sure that the engineered soils have appropriate physical, chemical and biological properties, it is also necessary that they do not contain excessive concentrations of potentially hazardous substances when it comes to agricultural use.The primary aim and objective is to develop technologies for producing fertile soils from inorganic and organic waste resulting from construction work or opencast mines and other industrial processes. The main categories of waste where the Slovenian recycling rate is lower than the EU rate are sewage sludge and non-hazardous construction and demolition waste. In this contribution, we are studying how to improve non-fertile soils with various additives of secondary origin to prepare fertile soil mixtures that enable a safe space greening or even food production.Acknowledgements: Project LIFE20 IPE/SI/000021 je co-financed by European Union.Keywords: agricultural landscape, land rehabilitation, recultivation, top soil

Pri poimenovanju in klasifikaciji tal se že vse od njenih začetkov soočamo z izzivi, ki izhajajo tako iz vpeljave tujih neznanih izrazov kot iz sprememb diagnostičnih meril in analitskih postopkov, s katerimi jih preverjamo. Pri prevajanju imen pedosistematskih enot Pedološke karte Slovenije (1 : 25.000) za namen mednarodnih publikacij in zemljevida tal Evrope, smo zasledili težave pri razumevanju akričnih tal. Akrična tla so v Pedološki karti opredeljena kot zelo kisla tla, z deležem bazičnih kationov na sorptivnem kompleksu tal manj kot 35% in sodijo med izprana tla. Merilo klasifikacije WRB za akričnost (qualifier acric) je majhna kationska izmenjalna kapaciteta glinene frakcije tal (< 24cmolc kg-1 gline) ob hkratnem efektivnem deležu bazičnih kationov pod 50%. Tla z argičnim horizontom in akričnimi lastnostmi se uvrščajo v referenčno skupino Acrisols. Izprana akrična tla so se prevajala kot Acrisols, kar ne drži po merilih klasifikacije WRB in je lahko zavajajoče, predvsem za tuje bralce, ki ne poznajo tal v Sloveniji in meril slovenske klasifikacije. V prispevku smo preučili zgodovino rabe izraza akričnost v slovenski pedološki literaturi in klasifikaciji tal ter s tem izrazom povezane diagnostične lastnosti in merila. Ugotovili smo, da je bil izraz akričnost uveden leta 1973 na podlagi legende pedološke karte FAO iz leta 1968. V različnih obdobjih so uporabljali različna merila (horizonti, lastnosti, analitske metode), ki se niso posodabljala z razvojem mednarodne klasifikacije WRB. // Historical overview of the use of the term acric in Slovenian soil classification In naming and classifying soils in Slovenia, we faced challenges from the beginning, resulting from the introduction of foreign, unfamiliar terms and changes in diagnostic criteria and analytical procedures for their verification. When translating the names of Soil Systematic Units of the Soil Map of Slovenia 1:25,000 for international publications and soil maps of Europe, misunderstandings could arise. Acric soils are defined in the Soil Map of Slovenia as very acidic soils with base saturation below 35% and belong to the Illuvial soils. The WRB classification criterion for acric properties is the low cation exchange capacity of the clay fraction of the soil (< 24cmolc kg-1 clay) with a simultaneous effective base saturation below 50%. Soils with an argic horizon and acric properties are referred to as reference group Acrisols. Illuvial acric soils have been translated as Acrisols, which is incorrect according to WRB classification criteria and is misleading, especially for foreign readers unfamiliar with soils in Slovenia and Slovenian classification criteria. In this paper, we examine the history of the use of the term acric in Slovenian pedological literature and soil classification, as well as the diagnostic properties and criteria associated with this term. We found out that the term acric was introduced in 1973 based on the legend of the FAO soil map of 1968. Different criteria (horizons, properties, analytical methods) were used in the different periods, which were not updated with the development of the international WRB classification.

The aim of our study was to clarify the use of the term “acric” in the Slovenian soil classification and its relation to the Acrisols of the World reference base for soil resources. A comprehensive review of Yugoslavian and Slovenian soil literature from 1960 to the present revealed that the term “acric” was first introduced into the classification of Yugoslav soils in 1973, based on FAO Legend (1968). “Acric” properties were most often associated with Illuvial soils (soils with argic horizons) of the Dinaric karst region. A detailed review and analysis of soil properties of 81 profiles with argic horizons from the Slovenian Soil Map database were done. Results clearly showed that soils with argic horizons are neither Acrisols nor Lixisols according to the latest WRB soil classification, as no soils with low activity clay in argic horizons have been proved so far. The base saturation and some recent measurements of effective base saturation indicate that Luvisols are the predominant Illuvial soils in Slovenia, with possible development to Alisols. Inconsistent use of the term “acric,” especially in the context of its translation to WRB reference group Acrisols, can lead to misunderstandings about the properties of such soils.