Newly formed soils of the sugar industry treatment facilities and invasion of Acer Negundo (Chernozem zone of Russia)

Sugar production generates a lot of wastewaters which are discharged into extensive treatment facilities. For the first time, soils and vegetation formed at the treatment facilities of the sugar industry in the Chernozem zone of Russia (Lgov sugar mill, Kursk region) were studied. Depending on the topography and activity/inactivity settling ponds Gleysols, Gleyic Cambisols, Eutric Cambisols and Technosols (Alkalic) were developed. Newly formed soils are alkaline, enriched with organic carbon and carbonates, and differ significantly from the background soils. In a wide variety of moisture conditions and soil properties, invasive Acer Negundo is widespread demonstrating a high degree of ecological plasticity. Newly formed landscapes, which are reservoirs of organic carbon and receive a huge microbial pool from wastewater, have become an integral part of the sugar industry environment.