Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2023 number 4

The issues related to soil degradation, and the possibility of preserving and restoring soil fertility in the southern regions of Siberia are considered. On the basis of synthesizing long-term observational data from fixed stations, the mechanism of erosion processes was revealed and quantitative data were obtained for soil losses depending on the main factors of water and wind erosion. Particular attention is paid to the periodically extreme behavior of processes that cause catastrophic soil degradation. The patterns of changes in the structure of processes that require the use of soil-protective methods of agriculture are shown. The mechanism of soil erosion and of soil degradation rate changes from west to east along the belt of steppes and forest-steppes in southern Siberia. It is necessary to protect soils from thawed soil loss in the south of Western Siberia. Soil deflation poses a particular danger in Khakassia. Soil degradation in Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia is enhanced by the combined effect of storm runoff and deflation. Based on a case study of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo plain, and the Nazarovskaya and South-Minusinsk depressions, results of a quantitative cartographic assessment of the erosion hazard to lands in terms of empirical models of potential soil loss and deflation are presented. A decrease in soil losses from erosion as a result of socio-economic reforms of agriculture and a significant reduction in the area of arable land in the early 1990s and in the post-reform period (2010-2017) were noted. In connection with the restoration of arable land occurring in recent years, the need for large-scale inventory mapping of erosion processes in southern Siberia is emphasized. It will be the basis for choosing a nature management policy that promotes the conservation of soil resources.