Historical Context for Abandoned lands and land use in the area of Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems of the Northern Pritomye (West Siberia)

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the historical land use and identify abandoned land aras of different ages within the area occupied by the dark-grey forest soils (according to the USSR Soil Classification of 1977), or as Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems (according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources of 2022) in one of the oldest  agricultural areas of the southern forest zone in the south-east of West Siberia (Northern Pritomye).

Location and time of the study. The field research was conducted in the south of Tomsk region (Tomsk district) and in the north of Kemerovo region (Yashkinsky district). The work with archival materials was carried out using remote access to archives and databases covering the south-eastern part of West Siberia.

Methods. The search for ecosystems abundant for different time spans, as well as soils that had not been ploughed, was carried out by analyzing historical cartographic sources located in various regional and state archives, as well as in the public domain on the Internet. The found archival information went back for more than 250 years. Space images obtained over the last 60 years were also used for analysis. Historical sources were used to assess the history of land management in the area of the Luvic Greyzem Phaeozems in the Northern Pritomye. The field studies of the ecosystems confirmed the conclusions about their successional status based on the analysis of cartographic sources, for which a morphogenetic analysis of the signs of previous ploughing and the determination of the oldest trees age were carried out.

Results. The history of the development of Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems in the Northern Pritomye, in the right-bank part of the Tom River, between the valleys of the Kirgizka and Sosnovka, dates back 420 years. The first arable land appeared almost immediately after the foundation of Tomsk in 1604. By the middle of the 17th century, depletion and abandonment of some soils in the vicinity of Tomsk and the village of Spasskoye were observed. Then the development of Luvic Greyzem Phaeozems began in the area of the mouth of the Sosnovka River. To the east of the Tom River, agricultural settlements of military people on Luvisols emerged in the valleys of the Ushaika and Basandaika Rivers. The first abandoned lands in the area of the soils in question appeared in the first half of the 17th century. In the 19th century, arable farming became less significant, and a belt of predominantly deciduous forests formed around Tomsk. Forests, including cedar forests on th abandoned lands, formed near the villages. At that time, most of the area of dark-gray forest typical soils consisted of post-agrogenic ecosystems used as dry hay meadows and firewood forests. A mosaic picture of the distribution of lands was formed: small arable lands and meadows were adjacent to isolated trees and birch groves. Arable fields were used for up to ten years, after which they were abandoned lands. With the beginning of the mechanization of agriculture, arable lands became larger, the area of arable land reached its maximum. In the 21st century, newly abandoned lands appeared.

Conclusions. Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems that were not affected by plowing, as well as lands abandoned for varying time spans, were identified. The information will be used in further comparative historical genetic studies of soils.