EUROPEAN SOIL BUREAU ⎯ RESEARCH REPORT NO. 9 Soil information in Latria. Aldis Karklins 201 Soil information in Latvia Aldis Karklins Latvia University of Agriculture 2 Liela Street, LV-3001, Jelgava, Latvia Introduction The Republic of Latvia lies on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea between 58° 05' - 55° 40' N in NS (extension: 210km) and 20° 58' E - 28° 14' E WE (extension: 450km) direction. The total area of Latvia is 64,589kmP 2 P of which 62,046kmP 2 P are land and 2,543kmP 2 P inland-water. The length of the State boundary is 1,900km, of which 1,400km is on land, including 343km with Estonia in the north, 282km with the Russian Federation in the east, 167km with Belarus in the southeast and 567km with Lithuania in the south. The length of the coastline is 494km. Latvia is located on the NW edge of the East European Plain that is characterized by slight variations in elevation. Relief of Latvia is characterized by low hypsography (0-312m above sea level - a.s.l.). About 44% of Latvia is at or below 80m a.s.l., 76% up to 120m and 24% above 120m a.s.l. Only 1.6% of the territory is located above 200m a.s.l. The average elevation is 87m a.s.l. The highest point is Gaizinkalns (312 a.s.l). The present day topography was mainly formed as a result of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly the last Baltic (Weichselian) event. Despite the low hypsography, some parts of the uplands have remarkable relief. Land resources of Latvia (2003) are as follows: agricultural land totals 2,474,400ha, including arable land - 1,832,200ha, permanent crops - 291,000ha, pastures and grasslands - 613,100ha; non-agricultural land totals 3,984,500ha, including forested land - 2,877,200ha (Agriculture in Latvia, 2003). Soil research and the systematic collection of soil information in Latvia started in the late 1800s after the opening of Riga Polytechnical School (the first high school in Latvia). In the beginning, the main interest was inventory of agricultural soils, assessment of fertility and the development of criteria for fertilizer use. The first soil fertility map was elaborated by Professor G. Thoms for the Polytechnical School’s research farm, Peterhof (area 225ha), in 1880 (Barbalis, 1970). The genetic approach of soil science was introduced by Professor J. Vitins, scholar and collaborator of Russian soil scientist K. Gedroits in the 1920s. Soil science moved through different periods with different intensity. The main areas of research and data applications were genesis and mapping of soil parent material and topsoil, soil chemical composition, soil classification, soil evaluation, soil improvement, degradation (especially erosion) control and soil fertility testing. Institutes involved in soil research and data processing also changed over the years. Currently the main institutions in soil research and knowledge transfer are the University of Latvia, Latvia University of Agriculture, the State Land Service and the Agrochemical Research Centre. Soil Classification Soil classification always had a special place in soil research in Latvia. It was a driving force for the investigations of fundamental soil processes and features in conjunction with the detailed inventory of Latvia’s soil resources and the development of data applications. The history of scientific soil classification started in 1927 when Prof. Janis Vitins grouped all the soils of Latvia into two major types: mineral soils and organic soils. For mineral soils four stages of development were separated: (1) Rendzinas, (2) Brown soils, (3) Slightly altered mineral soils, and (4) Strongly altered mineral soils. Organic soils were subdivided into three groups: (1) Water table on the level of soil surface, (2) Soils with shallow water table, and (3) Soils with deep water table but ponded by surface water.