ABSTRACT Although land‐use change in post‐socialist countries has been widely studied, most research has focused on the post‐1990 transition period, emphasizing socio‐economic and institutional drivers. In contrast, limited attention has been given to land‐use dynamics during the Soviet period and their lasting impacts on landscape structure and soil properties. This gap is particularly relevant for understanding long‐term ecological processes in areas affected by early agricultural abandonment. This study aims to analyse the political, environmental, and spatial drivers of land‐use change from 1954 to 2021 in a marginal rural area and to assess how these changes have influenced soil properties under different land‐use scenarios. Over the past 67 years, substantial land‐use changes in marginal regions have been driven primarily by agricultural extensification, land abandonment, and subsequent natural afforestation, processes shaped by both natural factors and targeted land management policies. The development of forest is influenced by environmental and spatial factors, particularly land quality and proximity to forest edge. In our study, forested areas were characterized by lower soil pH and reduced levels of organic carbon, nitrogen, and exchangeable cations compared to grasslands, reflecting both inherent soil properties and the legacy of past land use. These findings underscore that forest encroachment predominantly occurs on less fertile soils, highlighting the need for land management and policy approaches that integrate historical context, soil properties, and the conflicting priorities of conservation and afforestation to ensure sustainable land use and biodiversity protection.
Afanasjeva et al. (Thu,) studied this question.