Aim of the study:
The aim of the study was to assess the properties of soils created using substrates of anthropogenic origin-compost and imported fertile humus-rich soil obtained from forest areas for the purpose of restoring biotopes for replanted forest understory species. It was assumed that the use of homogeneous humus-rich soil substrates in a given urban park may nonetheless result in diverse microhabitat conditions for the introduced plants.

Material and methods:
The research was conducted in three urban parks in Krakow: Jordan Park, Polish Aviators Park, the Wilga River Park. In each location, research plots were established in a fully randomized design, with different variants of topsoil enrichment using compost from the municipal composting facility and topsoil horizons of forest soils. After distributing the humus-rich amendments, soil samples were collected from the 0–10 cm and 40–45 cm layers. In the laboratory, basic soil properties were determined: texture, pH, EC, Corg, Nt, C/N, properties of the sorption complex, the content of macroelements (Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, P), microelements (Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr).

Results and conclusions:
The study showed that the application of relatively homogeneous, humus-rich amendments of both natural and anthropogenic origin resulted in microhabitat-diverse conditions for replanted forest understory species. This means that the effectiveness of the restoration work and the outcomes in terms of the survival of replanted forest understory species may vary depending on the location, as soils underwent modifications influenced by the site conditions in each park. These findings are crucial for developing effective techniques to revitalise urban parks, thereby enhancing ecosystem services.