Luvisols and related clay-illuvial soils (gleby p?owe) - soils of the year 2023. Current view of their origin, classification and services in Poland

The Soil Science Society of Poland has elected gleby plowe (clay-illuvial soils) to be the Soils of the Year 2023. Gleby plowe are the most important soils in Poland, both in terms of occupied area, at least 45% of the total soil cover of Poland, and the importance for national agriculture. Gleby plowe are considered medium to highly productive soils, suitable for wheat, rapeseed and corn cultivation, so the vast majority of these soils are occupied by arable land use, while only their little fragments remained in forests, forming mesotrophic and eutrophic habitats. The joining feature of all gleby plowe is the presence of an argic illuvial diagnostic horizon, developed in the course of mechanical translocation of the clay fraction. However, this group is probably among the most diversified soils in Poland, as a consequence of the huge diversity of its parent materials and environmental conditions of their origin, as the well as the subsequent transformation induced by the long-term agricultural land use. This diversity is reflected in the highest number of soil subtypes (13) distinguished in a single soil type in the Polish Soil Classification, and their partial correlation with at least five reference soil groups (Luvisols, Retisols, Stagnosols, Planosols and Alisols) of an international WRB classification. This paper contains a brief review of (a) the development of the concept of clay-illuvial soils in the world and in Poland, (b) the current definition and classification of gleby plowe in Poland in relation to international classification, and (c) the state of the art in the knowledge of clay-illuvial soils in Poland, considering the unsolved issues of their origin, transformation and distribution in Poland.