LARGE-SCALE MAPPING OF SOILS FOR AGROECOLOGICAL LAND CLASSIFICATION

This paper discusses ways to apply the concept of the soil structure to improve large-scale special-purpose soil maps. The essence of the approach amounts to coordinating the content of the soil map and map of land types at all stages of the research, beginning with agroecologically oriented classification of soil combinations (SC). It is proposed that a system be established for basic types of SC, which are subjected to an extended agroecological evaluation, and also for transitional formations. The approach is illustrated by concrete examples of arable soils of the southern taiga and forest-steppe zones.