Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services

This multi-contributor, international volume synthesizes contributions from the world's leading soil scientists and ecologists, describing cutting-edge research that provides a basis for the maintenance of soil health and sustainability. The book covers these advances from a unique perspective of examining the ecosystem services produced by soil biota across different scales - from biotic interactions at microscales to communities functioning at regional and global scales. The book leads the user towards an understanding of how the sustainability of soils, biodiversity, and ecosystem services can be maintained and how humans, other animals, and ecosystems are dependent on living soils and ecosystem services. This is a valuable reference book for academic libraries and professional ecologists worldwide as a statement of progress in the broad field of soil ecology. It will also be of interest to both upper level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in soil ecology, as well as academic researchers and professionals in the field requiring an authoritative, balanced, and up-to-date overview of this fast expanding topic.

1.0 - Introduction
1.1 - Soil as a habitat
1.2 - Soil biodiversity and functions
1.3 - Ecosystem services provided by the soil biota
1.4 - Synthesis
2.0 - Introduction
2.1 - From single genes to microbial networks
2.2 - From genes to ecosystems: plant genetics as a link between above- and belowground processes
2.3 - Delivery of soil ecosystem services: from Gaia to genes
2.4 - Synthesis
3.0 - Introduction
3.1 - Succession, resource processing, and diversity in detrital food webs
3.2 - Patterns of biodiversity at fine and small spatial scales
3.3 - Linking soil biodiversity and human health: do arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi contribute to food nutrition
3.4 - Ecosystem influences of fungus-growing termites in the dry paleotropics
3.5 - The biogeography of microbial communities and ecosystem processes: implications for soil and ecosystem models
3.6 - Biogeography and phylogenetic community structure of soil invertebrate ecosystem engineers
3.7 - Synthesis
4.0 - Introduction
4.1 - Climate change effects on soils and ecosystem services
4.2 - The impact of nitrogen enrichment on ecosystems and their services
4.3 - Urbanization, soils, and ecosystem services
4.4 - Management of grassland systems, and soil and ecosystem services
4.5 - Synthesis
5.0 - Introduction
5.1 - Soil productivity and erosion
5.2 - Agroforestry and soil health: linking trees, soil biota, and ecosystem services
5.3 - Soil health: the concept, its role, and strategies for monitoring
5.4 - Managing soil biodiversity and ecosystem services
5.5 - Soil ecosystem resilience and recovery
5.6 - Applying soil ecological knowledge to restore ecosystem services
5.7 - Synthesis

The Editor-in-Chief, Diana H. Wall, is University Distinguished Professor and Director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University. Diana is actively engaged in research exploring how nematode and other invertebrate diversity contributes to healthy, productive soils and thus to society, and the consequences of human activities on soil globally. Her 20+ years research in the Antarctic Dry Valleys follows the response of soil organisms and ecosystem processes to environmental change, and in Africa she examines biodiversity in fertile and degraded soils. She served as President of the Ecological Society of America, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Intersociety Consortium for Plant Protection, the Association of Ecosystem Research Centers, and the Society of Nematologists. Diana received her BA and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, Lexington and is a Professor of Biology and a Senior Scientist at the Natural Research Ecology Laboratory. The Section Editors, Richard D. Bardgett, Valerie Behan-Pelletier, Jeffrey E. Herrick, T. Hefin Jones, Karl Ritz, Johan Six, Donald R. Strong, and Wim H. van der Putten, are all leading researchers in this field.

Diana H. Wall: Introduction
Section 1 - The Living Soil and Ecosystem Services
1.0: Karl Ritz and Wim van der Putten: Introduction
1.1: Patrick Lavelle: Soil as a habitat
1.2: Susanne Wurst, Gerlinde De Deyn, and Kate Orwin: Soil biodiversity and functions
1.3: Lijbert Brussaard: Ecosystem services provided by the soil biota
1.4: Karl Ritz and Wim van der Putten: Synthesis
Section 2 - From Genes to Ecosystem Services
2.0: Wim van der Putten and Karl Ritz: Introduction
2.1: Evelyn Hackl, Michael Schloter, Ute Szukics, Levente Bodrossy, and Angela Sessitsch: From single genes to microbial networks
2.2: Jennifer Schweitzer, Michael Madritch, Emmi Felker-Quinn, and Joseph Bailey: From genes to ecosystems: plant genetics as a link between above- and belowground processes
2.3: Katarina Hedlund and Jim Harris: Delivery of soil ecosystem services: from Gaia to genes
2.4: Wim van der Putten and Karl Ritz: Synthesis
Section 3 - Community Structure and Biotic Assemblages
3.0: Don Strong and Valerie Behan-Pelletier: Introduction
3.1: Justin Bastow: Succession, resource processing, and diversity in detrital food webs
3.2: Matty Berg: Patterns of biodiversity at fine and small spatial scales
3.3: Pedro Antunes, Philipp Franken, Dietmar Schwarz, Matthias Rillig, Marco Cosme, Martha Scott, and Miranda Hart: Linking soil biodiversity and human health: do arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi contribute to food nutrition
3.4: Gregor W. Schuurman: Ecosystem influences of fungus-growing termites in the dry paleotropics
3.5: Mark Bradford and Noah Fierer: The biogeography of microbial communities and ecosystem processes: implications for soil and ecosystem models
3.6: Lijbert Brussaard, Duur K. Aanen, Maria J.I. Briones, Thibaud Decaëns, Gerlinde B. De Deyn, Tom M. Fayle, Samuel W. James, and Tânia Nobre: Biogeography and phylogenetic community structure of soil invertebrate ecosystem engineers
3.7: Don Strong and Valerie Behan-Pelletier: Synthesis
Section 4 - Global Changes
4.0: Richard Bardgett and T. Hefin Jones: Introduction
4.1: Nick J. Ostle and Susan E. Ward: Climate change effects on soils and ecosystem services
4.2: Peter Manning: The impact of nitrogen enrichment on ecosystems and their services
4.3: Mitchell A. Pavao-Zuckerman: Urbanization, soils, and ecosystem services
4.4: Phil Murray, Felicity Crotty, and Nick van Eekeren: Management of grassland systems, and soil and ecosystem services
4.5: Richard Bardgett and T. Hefin Jones: Synthesis
Section 5 - Sustainable Soils
5.0: Johan Six and Jeffrey E. Herrick: Introduction
5.1: Kristof Van Oost and Martha M. Bakker: Soil productivity and erosion
5.2: Edmundo Barrios, Gudeta Sileshi, Keith Shepherd, and Fergus Sinclair: Agroforestry and soil health: linking trees, soil biota, and ecosystem services
5.3: Douglas L. Karlen: Soil health: the concept, its role, and strategies for monitoring
5.4: Michel A. Cavigelli, Jude E. Maul, and Katalin Szlavecz: Managing soil biodiversity and ecosystem services
5.5: Stuart Grandy,