Measuring and assessing the biological health of soils / edited by Jeanette Norton, Josh Schimel, Zoë Lindo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Norton, Jeanette.

Series:

Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science, 2059-6944 ; 173

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture.

Soil science.

Soil Science.

Local Subjects:

Agriculture.

Soil Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (477 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2025.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK : Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited : Imprint: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, 2025.

Summary:

One of the most important topics in soil science is understanding the relationship between soil biodiversity and soil ecosystem function. This relies on techniques able to accurately identify different soil organisms and how they interact in the soil microbiome. Measuring and assessing the biological health of soils provides a comprehensive overview of the range of techniques used to assess microbial/faunal diversity activity in soils and its impact on key ecological processes. The book also reviews how biological indicators can be integrated into soil health testing programmes to improve the quality of agricultural, grassland and forest soils. The book builds on a successful earlier volume published by Burleigh Dodds Science: Advances in measuring soil health (2021).

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Soil biology, soil health and ecosystem services: an overview

1 Introduction

2 Selecting indicators to assess soil health

3 The process of indicator selection

4 Carbon and climate regulation

5 Nutrient cycling

6 Water regulation and filtration

7 Habitat provision for biodiversity

8 Defining soil health through soil functions

9 Conclusion

10 Acknowledgements

11 References

Part 1 Advances in DNA-based methods, biological and other indicators to investigate soil microbial activity

Chapter 2 Advances in DNA-based methods for assessing abundance and diversity of soil microbial groups

2 Amplicon sequencing

3 Amplicon sequence analysis

4 Shotgun metagenomics

5 DNA sequencing and soil health

6 Challenges and future trends

7 Where to look for further information

8 References

Chapter 3 Advances in soil quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) techniques for identifying and studying soil microbial communities

2 Principles of qPCR

3 Factors affecting the reproducibility of qPCR assays

4 qPCR targets

5 Linking soil communities to measured processes

6 Case studies of the use of qPCR for measuring soil health

7 Recent developments

8 Conclusion

9 References

Chapter 4 Advances in soil respiration techniques for assessing soil microbial activity

2 Basis and application of soil respiration-based measurements

3 Case study - use of respiration-based measurements to evaluate conservation management practices

4 Future trends in research

5 Conclusions

6 Where to look for further information

7 References

Chapter 5 Enzyme assays for measuring soil microbial activity

1 Introduction.

2 Use of accurate enzyme assays and relative standardization

3 Meaning of enzyme measurements and their use

4 Enzyme assays used with other assays for assessing soil health

5 Perspectives

6 Conclusion

Chapter 6 Advances in stable isotope profiling (SIP) techniques to track plant-microbial interactions

2 Quantitative stable isotope probing (qSIP)

3 Using quantitative stable isotope probing in agriculture

4 Using qSIP: increasing soil carbon decreasing carbon emissions

5 Using qSIP: reducing dependence on synthetic agrochemicals, increasing nitrogen retention and decreasing nitrogen losses

6 Using qSIP: increasing plant resistance to environmental stress

7 Using qSIP: suppressing pathogens and reducing antibiotic use in livestock

8 Using qSIP: reducing greenhouse gas emissions

9 Linking qSIP to other 'omics' technologies

10 Scaling and modeling: from taxon-specific information to ecosystem functions and services

11 Case study: identifying microbial allies in nitrogen retention

12 Case study: Miscanthus, manure and soil carbon in agriculture

13 qSIP for agriculture: technical challenges and future trends

14 Conclusion: can agriculture be more sustainable through quantitative stable isotope probing- informed microbial engineering?

15 Where to look for further information

16 References

Chapter 7 Applications and advances in using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) as biomarkers in analyzing soil microbial communities

2 Principles and techniques of PLFA analysis

3 Interpretation of results and comparison with other methods

4 Applications of PLFA analysis in agricultural soils

5 Recent advances in PLFA analysis

6 Conclusion and future trends

7 Acknowledgements

8 Where to look for further information

9 References.

Part 2 Fauna as indicators of soil health

Chapter 8 Macrofauna as indicators of soil health: earthworms and enchytraeids

2 Effect of land use, agricultural management, and climate on earthworm communities

3 Effect of land use, agricultural management, and climate on enchytraeid communities

4 The interaction between earthworms and enchytraeids

5 How to sample and monitor earthworm and enchytraeid populations

6 How to assess earthworm and enchytraeid activity

7 Earthworms and enchytraeids as soil health indicators

9 Where to look for further information

10 References

Chapter 9 Microarthropods as soil health indicators

1 Classifying microarthropods

2 Occurrence of microarthropods in soils

3 Functional roles of soil microarthropods

4 Management practices affecting soil microarthropods

5 Methods for sampling, extraction, and identification

6 Microarthropods as indicators of soil health

7 Case studies

8 Conclusion and future trends

Chapter 10 Nematodes as indicators of soil health

2 Developments in nematode detection

3 Developments in community analysis

4 Relating analyses to soil health

5 Impacts of particular agronomic practices (crops/soil and water management)

6 Future trends

7 Summary

Part 3 Applications

Chapter 11 Biological indicators in laboratory-based soil health testing programmes

2 Selecting soil health indicators

3 From measurement to action: interpreting and benchmarking biological indicator results

4 Conclusion

5 Where to look for further information

6 References.

Chapter 12 Using biological indicators of soil health to assess the impact of particular cropping practices

2 Major cropping practices across different climatic zones

3 Soil biology and soil health

4 Soil fauna as indicators of soil health: microfauna, mesofauna and macrofauna

5 Influence of cropping practices on soil microbial abundance and community structure

6 Influence of cropping practices on soil mesofauna

7 Influence of cropping practices on soil macrofauna

8 Farming practices to optimize soil biological health: recommendations and conclusions

Chapter 13 Using biological indicators to assess the health of forest soils

2 Soil health and forest resilience

3 How to characterize forest soil health

4 Assessing soil health through biological indicators: ecosystem functions and plant characteristics

5 Assessing soil health through biological indicators: soil fauna

6 Using representative taxa: earthworm communities and soil health

7 Using representative taxa: nematode communities and soil health

8 Soil microbial communities and soil health

9 Biochemical indicators of forest soil health

10 Ecological processes, forest soil health, and resilience

11 Challenges and future trends

12 References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-83545-076-8

1-83545-077-6

9781835450765