Abstract
In Russia, when studying the carbon cycle in the biosphere, special attention is paid to the processes of transformation of organic matter in the surface layer of the hypergenesis zone. The article provides a description of the group composition of the organic matter of peats and provides a rationale for the importance of the botanical composition. The importance of taking into account the botanical composition of peats that make up natural and reclaimed forest swamps, as well as their spatial heterogeneity, is shown. This is important to know when estimating carbon stocks in peat soils of forest ecosystems. In an experiment on the activity of transformation of peat OM, it was revealed that their activity is determined by the type and botanical composition of peat. According to the amount of accumulation of C–CO2 during the transformation process, high-moor peats are arranged in the following series: sphagnum-hollow peat > complex > fuscum > scheuchzeria-sphagnum > cotton grass-sphagnum > scheuchzeria > cotton grass; lowland: hypnum > sedge > sedge-hypnum > shift > woody > wood-sedge. Two-year experiments on the activity and direction of transformation of OM of peat-forming plants under field conditions showed that the component and chemical composition of their OM changes significantly, but individually for each plant, and the content of aromatic polyconjugated systems and carboxyl groups also increases and the number of carbohydrate fragments decreases. The characteristics of the microbiome and enzymes of representative peats of forest swamps in the taiga zone of Western Siberia are given. The conducted studies confirmed the position of V.E. Rakovsky that differences in marsh plants in the composition of peats are manifested in the chemical and biological characteristics of peats.