Accumulation of Organic Carbon in Chernozems (Mollisols) under Shelterbelts in Russia and the United States

Shelterbelts that were created in place of meadow and meadow-steppe landscapes of the forest-steppe zone of northern continents serve as areas of carbon accumulation and participate in the formation of soil organic matter. In the Great Plains of the United States (in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska) and on the Central Russian Upland (Belgorod, Voronezh, and Kursk oblasts), a general tendency toward an increase in the Corg pool in the topsoil (0–30 cm) from the marginal parts of the shelterbelts toward their central parts by about 3.5–10.0 t per each 10 m has been identified. In 55 years of the existence of shelterbelts on chernozems in the European part of Russia, the mean annual rate of the organic carbon accumulation in the upper meter has been varying within 0.7–1.5 t/ha. In 19 years of the existence of a shelterbelt in the area of Huron (South Dakota), the mean annual rate of the organic carbon accumulation in the 1-m-thick layer of the Bonilla soil series (Haplustolls) has reached 1.9 t/ha.