Pedosphere Research, vol. 4, 2024, no. 1: 24 – 35
Original paper
ECOSYSTEM SERVICE – SOIL WATER ACCUMULATION OF CROPLAND UNDER DIFFERENT CLIMATIC AND PEDO-ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF SLOVAKIA
Miloš Širáň, Jarmila Makovníková, Boris Pálka
National Agricultural and Food Centre – Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Corresponding author: Ing. Miloš Širáň, PhD., National Agricultural and Food Centre, Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute, Mládežnícka 36, 974 04 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia,
e-mail: milos.siran@nppc.sk; ORCID ID: 0009-0005-0471-4786
Citation: Širáň, M., Makovníková, J., Pálka, B. (2024). Ecosystem service – soil water accumulation of cropland under different climatic and pedo-ecological conditions of Slovakia. Pedosphere Research, vol. 4, 2024, no. 1, pp. 24–35. NPPC – VÚPOP Bratislava. ISSN 2729-8728.
https://doi.org/10.64122/j.pedosres.2024.04.02
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate soil water accumulation of cropland agroecosystem in seven regions with various climatic and soil-ecological conditions. The potential of water accumulation in the soil (one of the regulating ecosystem services) was assessed through the hydro-limit of the field water capacity expressed in volume percentages. For the needs of spatial analysis and assessment of the potential of ecosystem services, mapping units were created based on biophysical data in combination with land use data. Result from our study showed that soil water accumulation in cropland ecosystems is higher in lowland positions and decreases with increasing altitude. Negative correlation between water accumulation and climatic regions (R=-0.63) is statistically significant. Cropland ecosystems with very high potential of water accumulation service are significantly represented in the region of Michalovce (93% of the area), Rožňava (58%) and Krupina (40%). In the Poprad region, there are mainly areas with a low potential (90%). The value of soil water storage potential can help in the development of functional strategies for optimal land use in the country.
Keywords: ecosystem services, soil water accumulation, climatic region, cropland, Slovakia