Impact of shelterbelts on the fragmentation of erosional networks and local soil waterlogging

The retrospective monitoring of the formation of locally waterlogged areas (mochars) along thalweg zones of an erosional network in the Azov district of Rostov oblast was performed for the period from 1968 to 2013 within the framework of the problem-oriented system of retrospective monitoring of the soil cover. It was found that the decisive role in the development of mochars belongs to shelterbelts crossing the thalwegs. The beginning of the local soil waterlogging dates back to the late 1960s-early 1970s. It is argued that the development of mochars in the thalweg zones was induced by the active planting of shelterbelts in the 1940s and 1950s.