Undeveloped till soils in scree areas are an overlooked important phosphorus source for waters in alpine catchments.

ABSTRACT: Scree deposits in alpine catchments contain undeveloped till soils that are "hidden" between and under stones. These scree areas have no vegetation except for sparse lichen patches on stone surfaces, but the soils exhibit biological activity and active cycling of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and organic carbon (C). We compared the chemical and biochemical properties of till soils in the scree areas (scree soils) with developed soils in alpine meadows (meadow soils) of 14 catchments in the alpine zone of the Tatra Mountains. The data showed that scree soils served as an important source of mobile P forms for waters in high elevation catchments. We then conducted a detailed soil survey focused on four selected alpine catchments with scree cover proportions > 30%. This study confirmed that s

SUBMITTER: Kana J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10485049 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature