Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services

Abstract

Soils and their biodiversity are currently being degraded at a rapid pace due to human activities. However, despite sitting at the foundation of human and ecosystem sustainability, soils are often ignored in scientific discussions of global issues. This book synthesizes current knowledge on soil ecosystem services, and provides a basis for the maintenance of soil health and sustainability. It begins by examining the living soil as a habitat in terms of biodiversity, functions, and ecosystem services. Soil ecosystem services are explored and explained at different scales from genes of microbes to whole ecosystems. The book discusses the importance of biodiversity to ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services with regards to phylogeny, biogeography, and diversity of important soil fauna groups, from microbes to large ecosystem engineers. The influence of global environmental changes such as climate change, nutrient enrichment, urbanization, and land use change, and their effect on soils and ecosystem services, are discussed. Finally, the book outlines how sustainability of soils, biodiversity, and ecosystem services can be monitored, maintained, and restored, and how humans, other animals, and ecosystems are dependent on living soils and ecosystem services.