Forstliche Bodenkartierungen im Keupergebiet des Strombergs in Wuerttemberg

A detailed soil survey was made for forestry purposes in the Keuper hill area of Stromberg in north-west Wnrttemberg. The soil profiles consisted chiefly of heavily weathered diluvial deposits, usually clayey, sometimes sandy, not rich in lime, and numerous deposits of loess. The Keuper deposits (the most recent deposits of Trias) underlying the soils hardly had any part in their structure. Most soils had moved by soil slip during the glacial period, giving rise to special mixed soils and a multilayered structure. Native weathered soils seldom occurred. From the structure of the shifted material, the land morphology and the slope governing solifluction, 3 terraces could be distinguished. These resulted from the main layers of hard sandstone between the Red and the Grey Keuper Clays.In most of the forests there were slightly podzolized brown forest soils. The growth of all types of timber was determined by the soil units. Growth of the native oak, beech and hornbeam, and the introduced conifers pine, European larch, and spruce distinguished different types of deciduous forest soils of the former middle forest. The economics were discussed first of oak and then of beech. The chief conifer was pine, mixed either with oak or beech according to situation. Its growth on heavy clay in basins was outstanding. European larch was particularly suited to solifluctive soils, consisting of a clayey subsoil with a loamy topsoil. The failure so far of spruce through drought and bark beetles was ascribed entirely to its situation in dry valleys.