Influence of Cryogenesis on Soil Biota on the Example of the Southern Part of the Vitim Plateau

A distinctive paleogeographic situation in the southern part of the Vitim Plateau, Transbaikal region, has resulted in the formation of landscapes featuring numerous heaving mounds and thermokarst depressions. The cryolithozone reacts to climate warming by reducing its area, while the temperature and depth of seasonal permafrost thawing are increasing. A soil profile differentiation identified in the heaving mounds and thermokarst depressions has led to changes in morphological and physicochemical properties of soils, which caused, in turn, a response of the biota.