ORIGINAL PAPER
Soil classification of Ukraine and its correlation with WRB (2022)
1
Department of Soil Science and Geography of Soils, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
2
Institute of Agriculture of Carpathian Region of the NAAS, Ukraine
3
Department of agrochemisry and pedology, Stepan Gzhytskyi National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies of Lviv, Ukraine
4
Lutsk National Technical University, Ukraine
Submission date: 2025-04-06
Final revision date: 2025-09-02
Acceptance date: 2025-12-07
Online publication date: 2025-12-07
Publication date: 2025-12-30
Corresponding author
Halyna Ivanyuk
Department of Soil Science and Geography of Soils, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Doroshenka str. 41, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine
Department of Soil Science and Geography of Soils, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Doroshenka str. 41, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine
Soil Sci. Ann., 2026, 77(1)215263
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
During an extensive period of research on Ukrainian soils, a substantial amount of factual data regarding their properties has been gathered. However, this knowledge has not yet been sufficiently disseminated within the international scientific community. The aim of this article is to present to the global academic audience the soil resources of Ukraine, as well as the problems and challenges faced by Ukrainian soil scientists in addressing the issue of soil classification. The lack of a new national soil classification system, aligned with modern global trends, that both preserves comprehensive knowledge about soils and simultaneously functions as a normative document, represents the most pressing issue in Ukrainian soil science today. Historically, Ukrainian soil classifications have predominantly been factor-genetic in nature, which makes direct comparison with the substantive classification system of the WRB particularly challenging. Rather than comparing entire classification systems, this study focuses on correlating the national soil nomenclature with the WRB system, particularly through analysing soil types based on their diagnostic and analytical characteristics. The methodological approach involved determining the corresponding WRB equivalents for the soil categories used in the Soil Map of Ukraine, compiled from regional soil maps at a scale of 1:200,000. A distinctive feature of Ukrainian soil nomenclature is the verbosity of soil names and the utilisation of landscape and ecological terms, which significantly complicates the process of correlation with the WRB. In this study, soil names were correlated primarily based on central archetypes and soil-forming factors, given that the Ukrainian classification does not incorporate the concept of diagnostic horizons. In total, the soils of Ukraine were classified into at least 21 reference soil groups under the WRB, including Anthrosols, Arenosols, Calcisols, Cambisols, Chernozems, Fluvisols, Gleysols, Histosols, Kastanozems, Leptosols, Luvisols, Phaeozems, Planosols, Regosols, Retisols, Stagnosols, Technosols, Umbrisols, Vertisols, Solonchaks, and Solonetz. The largest proportions are occupied by the following soils: Chernozems (47.0%), Phaeozems (18.5%), Retisols (4%), Luvisols (6.4%), Arenosols (5.4%).
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