Content of water-soluble carbohydrates as a quality indicator of cryogenic soils

The content of water-soluble organic matter in the soil is an important indicator of its quality and affects physical, chemical and biological properties of soil. This indicator is widely used for assessment of most zonal soils. However, in some cases, accumulation rates of water-soluble organic compounds in soil may significantly exceed the rate of their destruction. If so, it is more important to quantify not only the fraction of water-soluble organic matter as a whole but also to determine its composition. In this context, it is important to determine the content of the most labile and available for microorganisms compound – water-soluble carbohydrates. In this paper, the content of water-soluble carbohydrates and water-soluble organic matter in soils of Coastal Antarctica was estimated. Soils under three different plant communities were studied. We found that water-soluble organic matter of studied soils may contain up to 50% of carbohydrates. Hence, further research is needed to study other soils of Coastal Antarctica to determine their vulnerability to global climate change