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Plaggen Soils: landscape history, properties, and classification
Author(s) -
Blume HansPeter,
Leinweber Peter
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200420905
Subject(s) - podzol , soil water , organic matter , soil organic matter , manure , environmental science , forestry , soil science , geography , ecology , biology
Plaggen soils were produced by farmers in the sandy lowlands of Denmark, NW Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands by long‐term application of plaggen manure. The present paper summarizes the genesis, the properties, and the landscape impact of plaggen soils. The objectives and methods of plaggen management are outlined. Evidence for the plaggen management can be traced back to the late Bronze Age. It has continued until the last century. Numerous references indicate the geographical expansion of plaggen management over Europe. The various conditions of plaggen soil formation are reflected by their basic physical and chemical properties. Recent investigations of soil organic matter composition in sandy plaggen horizons revealed large proportions of lipids and fatty acids and some similarity with organic matter in Podzol B horizons. Finally, the classification of plaggen soils is discussed. In the World Reference Base of Soil Resources ( ISSS/ISRIC/FAO , 1998), most of them are classified as a separate subunit: within the reference soil group of Anthrosols, they differ from other artificially transformed soils, and are classified as Plaggic Anthrosols.