Soils of the European Union - European Soil Portal - Europa

4.12 HistosolsGeographical distributionHistosols cover nearly 270,000 km 2 , or approximately 6.5% of the land surface of the European Union. Histosols have thelargest extent in Northern Europe but with the exceptions of Cyprus and Malta all EU Member States have Histosols. Soilsof this Reference Soil Group dominate in 1,497 polygons, are associated to other soils in 504 and are present as inclusionsoils in 2,490 polygons.Two soil units of the reference group are present in the EU (Table 4.12., Figure 4.12).Table 4.12 Area of the second level units of HistosolsUnits in the Reference Soil Groupin the EUCodes ofsoil unitsArea in the EUkm 2Histosol (no subgrouping) HS 163Dystric Histosol HSdy 194965Eutric Histosol HSeu 73614The distribution pattern of Dystric Histosols are very similar to the whole of the Reference Soil Group, however they aremissing from Portugal, Greece Poland and Slovakia. Eutric Histisols are the dominant soils in many areas (with smallindividual extents) of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, France, The Netherlands, the UK, Slovenia andHungary. Other Histosols without further taxonomical distinction in the database are located in France, Belgium, Germanyand Luxembourg.27.39%0.06% HS (withoutdistinction)HSdy72.55%HSeuFigure 4.12 Share of the second level soil units in the area of HistosolsGlobal referenceThe majority of Histosols are located in the boreal, subarctic and low arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Most ofthe remaining Histosols occur in temperate lowlands and cool mountain areas; only one-tenth of all Histosols are found inthe tropics. Histosols are found at all latitudes, but the vast majority of them occur at low altitudes.The total extent of Histosols in the world is approximately 3.5 million km 2 .Histosols are composed mainly of organic soil material. During development, the organic matter production exceeds therate of decomposition. The decomposition is retarded mainly by low temperatures or anerobic (low oxygen) conditionswhich result in high accumulations of partially decomposed organic matter.A Histosol has a surface or shallow subsurface histic or folic horizon, which consists of partially decomposed plant remainswith or without admixed sand, silt and/or clay.The properties of the organic soil material (botanical composition, stratification, degree of decomposition, packing density,wood content, mineral admixtures, etc.) and the type of peat bog (basin peat, raised bog, etc.) determine the managementrequirements and use possibilities of Histosols. Northern Histosols are of little use for agriculture but they are part of aunique ecosystem and a habitat for many plant and animal species. Elsewhere more and more bogs are reclaimed foragriculture, horticulture and forestry.Histosols are also known as peat, muck, bog and organic soil.34