Ecological–Geological Systems of Chalk Soil Massifs in the Central Part of the Russian Plate

The components of the ecological–geological systems of chalk soil massifs in the central part of the Russian Plate, including lithotope, edaphotope, microbiocenosis, phytocenosis, and zoocenosis, are characterized. It has been experimentally proven that the features of the lithotope are connected with a high porosity and a rapid soaking of cretaceous rocks. A special feature of the chalk massif edaphotope is the possibility of the formation of short-profile soils with a poorly developed humus horizon on the slopes and thick carbonate chernozems on the wood of chalk soils at the foot of the slopes. It is shown that the features of the lithotope and edaphotope of chalk soil massifs determine the development of phyto- and zoocenoses. The flora is dominated by xerophytes, plants that can survive during a long period of dry soil. The fauna is represented by arthropods and invertebrates, which are adapted to living in the upper horizons of chalk massifs, characterized by optimal temperatures in winter and summer as a result of the low thermal conductivity of cretaceous deposits.