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Useful for anyone interested in maintaining productive soils, this book evaluates how soil organisms and biotic processes can be used as indicators of soil health.
Defining and assessing soil health and sustainable productivity; the relationship of soil health to ecosystem health; rationale for the development and use of bioindicators of soil health; bioindicators - perspectives and potential value for land users, researchers and policy makers; soil microflora as bioindicators of soil health; plant root pathogens as bioindicators of soil health; soil microfauna as bioindicators of soil health; community structure of soil arthropods as influenced by soil chemistry and management practices; how well does soil macrofauna reflect the biological health of soils?; enzyme activities as integrative indicators of soil biology; microbial biomass, organic matter and mineralizable nutrients as indicators of soil health; biodiversity of soil organisms as an indicator of soil health; biomonitoring of soil health by plants; use of genetically modified biosensors for soil ecotoxicity in testing; bioindicator to detect contamination of soils; synthesis - bioindicators as a component of indicator packages for monitoring soil health and sustainable productivity.
"Human activities have had a tremendous impact on this Earth, and our soils have paid a disproportionate share of the environmental cost imposed by the needs of our increasing human population. This multiauthored book makes a strong case for identifying biological indicators of soil health that can be used to understand the impacts we are having, and thereby lead to better management of one of the Earth's greatest resources. . . . The researchers who have contributed to this volume include names familiar to scientists outside the discipline of soil science, and each has written clearly in their area of expertise. Thus, although this is a research volume, the audience for this synthesis should include students and researchers in soil science, agronomy, plant physiology, and environmental biology, as well as those who have forgotten the important role of soils in world ecosystems."--The Quarterly Review of Biology
"Many ecosystem services required for the production of agricultura
