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Organic agriculture is a sustainable method of farming, and confers disease-suppressing abilities to disease-conducive soils via specialized soil microbiomes. This study aimed at transforming a disease-conducive soil from a conventional field into disease-suppressive soil by inoculating soil from an organic field previously established as “disease-suppressive”. The effectiveness of the transformed soil was established with the model plant wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown under natural conditions, with regard to its potential in inhibiting fungal phytopathogens, Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum. The conducive soil inoculated with the disease-suppressive soil performed better than the control conducive soil in terms of reduced disease severity in plants, improved soil nutrient content, increased activity of hydrolytic enzymes, and increased abundance of structural and functional microbial markers. The study demonstrates the efficacy of the soil microbiome under long-term organic agriculture in transforming disease-conducive soil into disease-suppressive soils. Such practises are simple and easy to implement, and could greatly improve the sustainability and crop yield in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degrading organic soils usually become a source of increased greenhouse gas emissions and fire frequency in disturbed peatlands. As a solution, the rewetting concept should consider not only the detailed hydrological characteristics of the peatland, but should also appraise the properties of the soils. Here, we provide the results of a detailed soil study carried out on an abandoned peatland in the Kaliningrad Region, Russia. The study aims to integrate data on soil properties, hydrology, and the degree of transformation of the current soil cover in terms of how this affects spontaneous revegetation and the potential for further mire community reestablishment. The paper contributes to a greater understanding of rehabilitation patterns of disturbed peatlands depending on the soil's physical and hydrological properties in the humid climate of the southeastern Baltic region. The present-day soils of the peatland refer to two World Reference Base (WRB) groups: Gleisols and Histosols; the latter change successively from the periphery to the centre of the peatland as follows: Eutric/Sapric → Hemic → Dystric → Fibric. Most Histosols are characterised by hydrothermal degradation in the upper layers with patches of pyrogenic degradation. Some local inundated areas show environmental conditions favourable for Sphagnum growth and the formation of mire communities. We have identified six groups of sites with different ecological and time-span potentials for mire community restoration during the implementation of rewetting activities. The rewetting feasibility of the peatland's sites does not coincide with the degree of transformation of their soil profile, but is rather determined by the hydrological regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progress in understanding allelopathic interactions among plants has long been hampered by the complexity of the many direct and indirect interactions involved. Plant processes and growth are not only affected by allelochemicals but by resource limitations, pathogens, herbivores, and microbial interactions. Interference mechanisms frequently interact, and the magnitude of effects can depend on the plant's biotic and abiotic environment. The rhizosphere is chemically complex, with thousands of potentially bioactive allelochemicals produced by plants, microorganisms and soil invertebrates. The rhizosphere is also dynamic, in that concentrations of these metabolites vary as pulses of allelochemicals are released by plant roots and other organisms, as they leach from decaying plant material, as microorganisms degrade and sometimes transform allelochemicals, and as allelochemicals are taken up by plants, bind to soil components, or leach from the root zone. Recent advancements in instrumentation and technologies for the analysis of trace levels of chemical substances in soil, as well as the development of genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics approaches allow researchers to probe both the biosynthesis of allelochemicals and plant responses to allelochemical exposures. These new technologies will provide much more detailed information on rhizosphere chemistry and about the production and response to metabolites by individual cells. This review describes case studies and current examples that illustrate how these new approaches and tools can enhance our understanding of allelopathic interactions, and argues that to truly advance our understanding of allelopathic interactions, these must be applied in ecologically rigorous and meaningful ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the presence of urban soil buried under anthropogenic debris in an air-museum park in the Madrid city center (Spain), and highlights the particularities of this singular urbanized setting to indicate ecological evaluation options for soils. The study of a soil profile (with a thickness of about 2.30 m), classified as Urbic Technosols, allowed us to devise that it is formed by a series of filled-in amounts of artifacts (construction debris and other anthropogenic waste) of about 10–30%, plus organic and mineral materials. These soils' composition and morphology depend on the natural conditions of the territory and also on anthropogenic activities. The soil properties (analyzed by conventional techniques) are moderate in acidity reaction and have relatively higher organic matter content. The Pb, Cu and Zn concentrations in anthropogenic horizons do not exceed the approximate permissible concentrations by 1.5–10-fold. Over the course of time, the soil profile has been transformed as a result of the impact of pedogenetic processes developing under the Mediterranean climate and man's hand. Although urban environments present a certain complexity, at least the role of soil should be recognized regarding flood mitigation, recycling of wastes and toxins, filtering of nutrients or carbon storage and GHG regulation. The analysis of our results concludes the need to better perceive this soil profile and its green space to improve the urban ecosystem and to ensure better citizen well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degrading organic soils usually become a source of increased greenhouse gas emissions and fire frequency in disturbed peatlands. As a solution, the rewetting concept should consider not only the detailed hydrological characteristics of the peatland, but should also appraise the properties of the soils. Here, we provide the results of a detailed soil study carried out on an abandoned peatland in the Kaliningrad Region, Russia. The study aims to integrate data on soil properties, hydrology, and the degree of transformation of the current soil cover in terms of how this affects spontaneous revegetation and the potential for further mire community reestablishment. The paper contributes to a greater understanding of rehabilitation patterns of disturbed peatlands depending on the soil’s physical and hydrological properties in the humid climate of the southeastern Baltic region. The present-day soils of the peatland refer to two World Reference Base (WRB) groups: Gleisols and Histosols; the latter change successively from the periphery to the centre of the peatland as follows: Eutric/Sapric → Hemic → Dystric → Fibric. Most Histosols are characterised by hydrothermal degradation in the upper layers with patches of pyrogenic degradation. Some local inundated areas show environmental conditions favourable for Sphagnum growth and the formation of mire communities. We have identified six groups of sites with different ecological and time-span potentials for mire community restoration during the implementation of rewetting activities. The rewetting feasibility of the peatland’s sites does not coincide with the degree of transformation of their soil profile, but is rather determined by the hydrological regime.

As the main purpose of this article, the authors consider the level of soil pollution in the Aksu River basin as a result of anthropogenic impact, in which factors of anthropogenic transformation of soils in different zones play an important role, as well as processes occurring in soils as a result of their impact. This article highlights the research of the main analyses carried out, which showed that the anthropogenic transformation of soils within the surveyed territory is multifactorial and complex. As an assumed result, the validity of which is analyzed in this article, it can be considered that the degree and forms of manifestation of anthropogenic transformation of foothill soils depend on their use, as one criterion of which is considered the use of such soil for arable land, including irrigated arable land, in which the degradation of mountain soils is mainly associated with pasture loads during a certain period. As a research question, it remains to be considered whether this is really the case or whether the present territory is subject to a different anthropological impact.

Vegetation and soils of the North Taiga zone were studied in natural and thermokarst-disturbed areas of Yana-Adycha interfluve (northeastern Yakutia). Soil research includes a description and physicochemical analysis of samples. The objects of study were selected taking into account the landscape diversity of the area experiencing permafrost melting due to pyrogenic factors under global climate change: young thermokarst and taiga untouched by fires and within the thermokarst basin of early Holocene. It was determined that the permafrost melting is accompanied by the transformation of homogeneous soil cover. After a forest fire, thawing depth increases and occurs redistribution of moisture and water-soluble matters. As a result, on the drier tops of byllars, the formation of albic material under the organogenic horizon is observed in the calcic cambic cryosol, which indicates a fairly fast transformation rate. In depressions, the forest is not recovered. In the mature alas, the vegetation and soil cover has a belt structure, represented by a combination of cryosols, stagnosols, and gleysols. In contrast to the soils of the Central Yakutia alases, there are almost no signs of lacustrine redeposition of soil, which indicates a difference in the processes of alas formation in different parts of the cryolitozone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diverse chernozemic soils featured by thick mollic horizon, rich in humus, dark-coloured, structural, and saturated with base cations are relatively common in the loess-belt of SW Poland. It is postulated, that most of these soils may have similar initial (chernozemic) history of thick humus horizon, related to climate conditions and vegetation in the Late Pleistocene and the Neolithic periods. However, these soils exist on various bedrocks and under different moisture conditions that led to the development accompanying features and variable classification of soils, both in Polish and international soil classifications. The aim of the paper is to presents the most important variants of loess-derived chernozemic soils of SW Poland, in relation to local conditions, which influenced soil transformation and present spatial diversification. ‘Typical’ chernozems (WRB: Calcic Chernozems), which have a mollic horizon and secondary carbonates, but are free of strong redoximorphic features, are rather uncommon in the region. Whereas, the black earths (WRB: Gleyic/Stagnic Chernozems/Phaeozems), featured by the presence of mollic horizon and strong gleyic or stagnic properties in the middle and bottom parts of the profiles, are predominant loess-derived chernozemic soils in SW Poland. Their most specific forms, developed on the clayey bedrock, are black earths with a vertic horizon (WRB: Vertic Stagnic Phaeozems). The strongly leached chernozemic soils developed over permeable subsoils, lacking carbonates and free of (strongly developed) stagnic/gleyic properties are called grey soils, often featured by the presence of subsurface diagnostic horizons cambic or luvic (WRB: Cambic/Luvic Phaeozems).

The results of a comprehensive study of soils under a 30-m-wide five-row oak shelterbelt of meridional orientation and on the adjacent arable fields of the agroforestry landscape in typical forest-steppe of Belgorod oblast are discussed. Background soils are medium-deep light clayey leached chernozems (Luvic Chernozems) on calcareous loesslike heavy loam. As a result of tree growth during the past 50 years (age of the shelterbelt), certain changes in the intensity and direction of soil-forming processes have taken place in soils of both the shelterbelt and the adjacent arable land. Data on the contents and stocks of the clay (<0.001 mm) and fine silt (<0.005–0.01 mm) fractions in the soil profile under the shelterbelt attest to the development of its textural differentiation. The accumulation of sodium and magnesium in soil water extracts is detected in the deep (200–400 cm) layer of this soil. Adjacent arable soils contain less carbonates than soils under the shelterbelt; the removal of carbonates from the layers of 0–200 and 0–300 cm is estimated at 57 and 84 t/ha, respectively. The topsoil (0–20 cm) under the shelterbelt significantly differs from the topsoil of the adjacent arable land in a lower bulk density, lower stocks of clay (<0.001 mm) and physical clay (<0.01 mm), and higher stocks of Corg. The influence of the shelterbelt on the properties of adjacent arable soils can be traced to a distance of 50–60 m from the shelterbelt edges. The significant quantitative differences are seen in the clay stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils in botanical gardens play a crucial role as they condition the growth and vegetation of huge diversity of plant species on relatively small areas. Creating favourable habitats for the planted vegetation's development frequently leads to the formation of soils with thick surface horizons with a very well developed structure, rich in organic matter and nutrients, described as hortisols. Despite significant human influence, the environments of botanical gardens are often considered to be seminatural enclaves in urban areas. The main objectives of the presented paper were to explain soil cover differentiation noted across the Botanical Garden of Jagiellonian University in Kraków and determine the share of natural and anthropogenic features in the studied soils. Moreover, the usefulness of the WRB system in the evaluation of the rate of anthropogenic transformation in soils was tested. All the investigated soils showed significant evidences of anthropogenic transformations. Both digging and overbuilding with allochthonous material rich in artefacts caused disturbances in soil morphology. On the other hand, formerly intensive liming and fertilizing with organic materials has resulted in the homogenization of soil chemical properties in the studied botanical garden. No significant relationships between the spatial differentiation of soil properties and diversity of planted vegetation or time span from the area's inclusion to the botanical garden were detected. The results of the bonitation of specific soil properties not considered by the classification system (e.g. thickness of soil profile overheap) were compatible with the WRB 2015 systematic position. This confirmed good definition of actual WRB criteria for soils disturbed by human activity and undergoing natural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important need in the context of peatland restoration is to gain knowledge of soil organic matter quality and current soil-forming process in degraded peatlands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of long-term drainage on soil transformation processes. In autumn 2012, soil survey and sampling was carried out on five shallow peatlands in the Central Sudeten Mountains (Poland) which had been drained for forestry use in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Four organic soils (Histosols) and one organo-mineral soil (Histic Gleysol) were studied. The surface soil horizons were mainly transformed due to long-term forestry drainage. Increased aeration of these layers had enhanced their content of labile forms of carbon and they were undergoing secondary transformation. Soil transformation was more advanced in fen peatlands than in transitional mire or raised bogs. Only the fens exhibited characteristic evidence of the moorsh-forming process. Further drying of these soils will negatively affect their rewetting potential and significantly reduce the effective application of restoration treatments. In order to reduce organic matter transformation and loss from the investigated peatland areas, their drainage ditches should be blocked. Additionally, some trees should be removed from their central areas to reduce evapotranspiration.

Understanding the effect of long-term drainage of peatland areas is helpful in future peatland management and regulations of water conditions. The aim of this work was to assess the current state of fen peatland soils in the Grójecka Valley (eastern part of the Wielkopolskie voivodeship, central Poland), affected by long-term agricultural use (pastures, meadows) since the 1960s and potentially by lignite open pit mining industry (KWB Konin) since 1980s. Field studies were carried out in 2015 in selected fen peatland areas. Soil material for laboratory analysis was collected from genetic horizons from four soil profiles. The surface horizons of studied organic and organo-mineral soils were built with well-developed moorsh material. They were classified as medium moorshiefied – MtII (profile 1, 3 and 4) and strongly moorshiefied – MtIII (profile 2). Obtained results of physical and physico-chemical analysis indicate that long-term peatland utilization connected with potential impact of the lignite mining, transformed mainly the upper horizons of studied organic and organo-mineral soils. However, despite obvious strong human impact on peatlands ecosystems, we cannot exclude the climate variables, what should be confirmed by long-term monitoring program. Furthermore, presented paper indicated that new subtype moorsh-muddy soils (in Polish: gleby murszowo-mułowe) within the type of gleyic soils should be implemented in the next version of Polish Soil Classification.

The unfavourable environmental conditions to Chernozem development in Central Europe has led to questions regarding their origin and age, and conditions necessary for Chernozem persistence in Central Europe under a humid climate. This paper deals with Chernozem transformation during the Holocene period in SW Poland in relation to land morphology. The study was based on a catenary approach, with additional remarks on parent material homogeneity and soil classification. Based on textural and geochemical indices, the homogeneity of aeolian material (loess) was proven in the main part of the catena, which confirmed that the differentiation of “dry” and “wet” chernozemic soil across the catena did not result from the variability of parent material. No differences in morphological or physicochemical characteristics of mollic horizons were identified between the well-drained and wet sections of the catena. The strong redoximorphic features (manifested as stagnic or gleyic properties) in the lowermost part of catena are, therefore, secondary features, i.e. developed after the mollic horizon development, presumably in late Holocene period. Chernozems with chernic horizon, weakly developed subsurface argic horizon and free of redoximorphic features prevail in the central, well-drained and not eroded section of the catena. It has been hypothesized that the loess soils in the uppermost, more inclined part of the catena have been truncated by erosion during the first agricultural period, then afforested and transformed into Luvisols, probably due to temporary abandonment of those sites less favourable for farming. The soils in the transitional zone received the colluvial addition of humus material from the eroded hill summit; however, the colour of the humus layer has a chroma too high for a chernic horizon that surprisingly shifted these soils to the Kastanozems group. This study showed that the direction of transformation of native Chernozems in the Holocene period was strongly related to their position in the landscape, which affected the erosion/accumulation intensity and water drainage conditions (soil moisture regime). As a final result of these transformations, a relief-related zonality of soils has developed with Stagnic/Gleyic Chernozems – Luvic Chernozems – colluvial “Kastanozems” – Haplic Luvisols, in the lower (moist), middle (well-drained), and upper colluvial/eroded sections of the undulating loess plain, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of an ongoing 50-year experiment of introduction of the species Eisenia nordenskioldi into massive oak plantations (Quercus robur L.) in the Northern Caspian semidesert are analyzed. The change in the quantitative proportion of the dominant earthworm species due to the growth and conditions of forest cultures as well as their impact on meadow-chestnut soils is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two chronosequences, one south (S-sequence) and one southwest (SW-sequence) with differing times since their abandonment (193, 142, 101, 63, 39 and 14 years), were studied on Tokaj Nagy-Hill. The sites were investigated in respect of vegetation characteristics, soil physico-chemical characteristics, total organic carbon stocks (TOC stocks), accumulation rates of total organic carbon (TOC accumulation rates), and soil profiles, which were classified according to the World Reference Base (WRB) 2007. The S-sequence was 25–35% sloped and strongly eroded, and the SW-sequence was 17–25% sloped and moderately eroded. Vegetation development at the S-sequence resulted in shrub-grassland mosaics, supplemented by protected herb species and forest development at the earliest abandonment. The SW-sequence was predominantly covered by forest vegetation, and trees were absent at the 63 and 14 year old abandonment sites. Soils of the S-sequence show shallow remnants of loess cover with redeposited soil materials containing 15–65% skeletal volcanic rock of weathering products coated by secondary calcium carbonates. The SW-sequence profiles are developed on deep loess or loess derivatives. The calcium-carbonate content was higher in profiles of the S-sequence (18.1 ± 10.4%) than in the SW-sequence (6.7 ± 2.7%); consequently, the pH of the topsoil was higher in the S-sequence, and correlated significantly negatively with the age of abandonment in both sequences (r = − 0.893; p = 0.01 in S, and r = − 0.739; p = 0.05 in SW). TOC stocks of the top 6 cm soil layers were higher in the S slope (1.82 ± 0.71 kg m − 2 ) than in the SW-sequence (0.95 ± 0.49 kg m − 2 ), and correlated significantly positively with the duration of abandonment. When calculated for the whole profile, TOC stocks were similar in both S- and SW-sequences (S: 8.21 ± 3.31 kg m − 2 ; SW: 8.24 ± 6.01 kg m − 2 ). The TOC accumulation rates of the top 6 cm soil layers exhibited 18.9 ± 10.0 g C m − 2 y − 1 in the S and 7.0 ± 4.2 g C m − 2 y − 1 in the SW-sequence. Sites with the same age of abandonment showed different vegetation and soil features in both chronosequences, indicating that time is not the most decisive factor in soil transformation processes after abandonment of viticulture on Tokaj Nagy-Hill. Additional directing factors were slope steepness and exposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are a significant component of natural disasters in most countries around the world. Understanding these destructive phenomena through the analysis of possible correlations between microbial communities and the alteration of the soil responsible for landslides is important in order to reduce their negative consequences. To address this issue, bacterial and fungal communities in soils triggering landslides in Termini-Nerano and Massa Lubrense-Nerano (Naples, Italy) were analysed by genetic profiling techniques. Fingerprints were generated by single-strand conformation polymorphisms (SSCP) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The microbial community in both soil types was enriched in species which could contribute to the degradation process occurring during landslides, forming biofilms and leading to the transformation or the formation of minerals. Indeed, some of the identified bacteria were found to favour the transformation of clay minerals. These findings suggest a possible relationship between bacterial and fungal community-colonising soils and the occurrence of landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Signs of anthropogenic soil transformation were found at all plots. • The soil cover on the plots is a combination of both natural and anthropogenic soils. • The anthropogenic sediments thickness varies from 10 to 135 cm. • The supplementary qualifier Waric introduction is suggested in the WRB new version. In this paper, we studied the soils of recreational areas of Volgograd within three research areas. The survey found that in research area I the soils spatial distribution is mainly represented by the following soil group according to WRB: Urbic Technosols, Urbic Technosols (Mollic) and Gleyic Terric Phaeozem (Mollic, Prototechnic). Buried soils are represented by Gleic Cambisols (Protocalcic). In research area II, among natural soils, the largest areas are occupied by Calcaric Fluvisols (Loamic, Technic, Protovertic), Calcaric Fluvisols (Arenic, Salic), and Gleyic Calcisols (Sodic, Protocalcic, Technic, Salic). The anthropogenic-transformed soils include Urbic Technosols, and Ekranic Technosols are under buildings and road surfaces. In research area III, the natural soils spatial distribution is homogeneous and mainly represented by Gleyic Cambic Calcisols (Protocalcic), Gleyic Cambisols (Protocalcic, Prototechnic), and Calcaric Colluvic Regosols (Arenic, Prototechnic) in the bottoms of small flat-bottom valleys. In irrigation sites occur Urbic Technosols, and on hiking trails – Gleyic Cambisols (Prototechnic). Despite the presence of reclaimed horizons with a high content of phosphorus in the soils (average concentration of 82 mg kg−1), none of the profiles revealed Hortic horizon, but only some of its properties (colour, horizon thickness, zoogenic activity). The thickness of urbic-stratifying layer (Au) varies in a wide range from 10 to 135 cm, and the thickness of reclaimed horizons (A) also varies from 10 to 48 cm. The bulk density in Au horizons is 1.4 g cm−3, in the reclaimed horizons (A) – 1.39 g cm−3. The content of soil carbon in soil surface horizons varies from 0.85% to 4.58% in urbic horizons, and to 1.49% in reclaimed horizons. Chemical analysis of urbic (Au) and reclaimed (A) horizons revealed a low content of easily soluble salts (0.16%) and carbonates (1.5% and 1.7%, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Newly constructed Mediterranean soils have a very high carbon sequestration potential. • After 48 years, about 12 kg org. C m−2 were accumulated. • The org. C sequestration rates remain high until about 50–100 years. • Chemical weathering contributes to C consumption but is difficult to be quantified. • With time, macroporosity decreased to about half of its original value. The increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentration is a consequence of human activities leading to severe environmental deteriorations. Techniques are thus needed to sequester and reduce atmospheric carbon. One of the proposed techniques is the transformation or construction of new soils into which more organic carbon can be sequestered and CO 2 be consumed by increased weathering. By using a chronosequence of new and transformed soils on crushed limestone (0–48 years) in a Mediterranean area (Sicily), we tried to quantify the amount of organic carbon that could be additionally sequestered and to derive the corresponding rates. A further aim was to trace chemical weathering and related CO 2 consumption and the evolution of macropores that are relevant for water infiltration and plant nutrition. Owing to the irrigation of the table grape cultivation, the transformed soils developed fast. After about 48 years, the organic C stocks were near 12 kg m−2. The average org. C sequestration rates varied between 68 and 288 g m−2 yr−1. The C accumulation rates in the transformed soils are very high at the beginning and tend to decrease over (modelled) longer time scales. Over these 48 years, a substantial amount of carbonate was leached and reprecipitated as secondary carbonates. The proportion of secondary carbonates on the total inorganic carbon was up to 50%. Main mineralogical changes included the formation of interstratified clay minerals, the decrease of mica and increase of chloritic components as well as goethite. The atmospheric CO 2 consumption due to silicate weathering was in the range of about 44–72 g C m−2 yr−1. Due to the high variability, the contribution of chemical weathering to CO 2 consumption represents only an estimate. When summing up organic C sequestration and CO 2 consumption by silicate weathering, rates in the order of 110–360 g C m−2 yr−1 are obtained. These are very high values. We estimated that high sequestration and CO 2 consumption rates are maintained for about 50–100 years after soil transformation. The macropore volume decreased over the observed time span to half (from roughly 10 to 5 %). The transformation of soils may even amend their characteristics and increase agricultural production. Due to the relatively sandy character, enough macropores were present and no substantial compaction of the soils occurred. However, great caution has to be taken as such measures can trigger deterioration of both soil ecosystem services and soil quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melting glaciers release new ground surfaces, which may be either a source of greenhouse gas emissions or a sink for carbon dioxide. Studies carried out in subpolar and alpine ecosystems confirm the relatively rapid soil development and increase of carbon and nitrogen pools. However, observations from high-mountain glacier forelands in cold and dry climate are very scarce. This study analyses the impact of major environmental factors related to climate, topography, and vegetation, over a time-scale, on soil development and spatial soil differentiation in the foreland of Uisu Glacier, East Pamir Mountains. Moreover, the usefulness of the World Reference Base (WRB) and Soil Taxonomy in the classification of poorly developed soils in the ultracontinental climate was assessed. Geomorphological, pedological, and botanical surveys covered a sequence of terraces, alluvial fans, and end-moraines. Typical characteristics of the soils in the glacier foreland were: very high stoniness, coarse texture, high content of calcium carbonate, alkaline reaction, and low salinity. Soil development has extremely low intensity and was manifested in (a) soil organic carbon pools being among the lowest reported in the world (up to 1.4 kg m−2 in the layer 0–50 cm), and (b) the presence of cambic/calcic horizons only on landforms older than of Mid-Holocene age (estimated). It was concluded that both the extremely cold and extremely dry climate conditions in the Uisu Glacier foreland limit the water flux and availability, suppress vegetation density and variability, and slow down the rate of soil development. Both WRB and Soil Taxonomy were able to reflect the advances in soil development and spatial soil differentiation (Calcaric Hyperskeletic Leptosols – Calcaric Cambisols – Cambic Calcisols, and Gelifluvents – Haplocambids - Haplocalcids, respectively); however, highlighting different features developed under an extremely cold and dry climate conditions of the East Pamir Mountains. Unlabelled Image • East Pamir Mts have cold and extremely dry (gelic/aridic regimes) climate. • Soil development in the glacier foreland is hampered, along with plant succession. • Little soil differentiation exists between landforms of different age. • Organic carbon pools are among the lowest reported in the glacier forelands. • WRB and Soil Taxonomy are efficient on higher classification levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]