This edited book is unusual in several respects. It was first published
in 2012 in hardback, but the paperback version is dated
2013. Second and perhaps a harbinger of the future in publishing,
the book has an over-arching editor and a series of eight section
editors, who all appear on the front cover along with the authors
themselves. This could be confusing for citations. However, does
this complicated editorial/author team produce an informative
and worthwhile book? Unreservedly, yes. It is aimed at both the
advanced undergraduate market as well as the professional ecologist
who needs to brush up on his or her skills in soils and soil processes,
and they hit the mark.
After a general introduction, there are five main sections: (1)
The Living Soil and Ecosystem Services (three chapters), (2) From
Genes to Ecosystem Services (also three chapters), (3) Community
Structure and Biotic Assemblages (six chapters), (4) Climate
Change (three chapters), and (5) Sustainable Soils (six chapters).
Each section starts with an introduction and finishes with a synthesis
chapter.
This book exhibits quality and breadth of coverage throughout.
The editor has brought together a group of experts who have managed
to produce really readable accounts that will be understandable
to their target audiences. Most readers will gravitate to the
parts that interest them, either because they know something
about the subjects, or because they want to learn more about
new things. For me, the chapters by Ostle and Ward on ‘‘Climate
change and nitrogen cycling’’ and by Peter Manning on ‘‘The