Under Ground: How Creatures of Mud and Dirt Shape Our World

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:279 doi:10.2136/sssaj2007.0026br *Corresponding author ([email protected]). © Soil Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd. Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher. This book was published as a project of the Scientifi c Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) just about the time an article on soils appeared in journal Science (Soils —The Final Frontier. Science 304: 1613– 1637, 2004). It is an outcome of the SCOPE project “Soils and Sediments: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function” (leader: Diana H. Wall, Fort Collins, CO). The book is written for the general public. The author has succeeded in communicating science to a large audience in an outstanding manner, by combining research results from the project and up-to-date information about biodiversity in soils and sediments with essayistic descriptions of how scientists work and think. Furthermore, the author showed how specifi c research results might be relevant for problems such as climate change and the sustainability of agriculture, fi shery, and forestry. The text is organized in nine chapters, covering a wide range of topics. They contain descriptions of travels of the author to different SCOPE project sites and discussions the author had with project leaders and coworkers on scientifi c problems. These sections of the text are especially interesting and informative since they are usually not encountered in present day scientifi c literature. These sections contain 30 to 50 references covering the topic under discussion in each chapter. In the introduction chapter, the reader is reminded of the two rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, which were digging on Mars in vain for soil, because soil is confi ned to the planet earth. How could the character of soil be better conveyed! Life must precede soil (p. 3), and only soil life makes the earth habitable for us, by creating an oxygen-rich atmosphere and an ozone layer as protection from the sun (p. 11). Chapter 2 focuses on a place most similar to Mars and introduces the research of Diana Wall and her coworkers on nematodes in Antarctic soils. Some basics of soil biology are presented, as well as links between biodiversity and the carbon cycle. Modern approaches such as isotope analysis are also mentioned. In Chapter 3, the reader becomes acquainted with soil biology in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and learns from discussions of the author with soil biologists from the Netherlands and the UK about species packing (an ecological expression that refers to the number of species which can coexist in the soil), where competition is reduced through spatial and temporal variability. In Chapter 4, negative effects of introduced earthworms on soil properties, nutrient cycling, and plant species distribution in Maple forests in Minnesota are described—an interesting perspective, unusual for Europeans. Chapter 5 focuses on the biodiversity of marine sediments and its relationship to fi shing practices along the continental shelf or the deep-sea. In Chapter 6, it is shown that problems like the increase of dead zones in the Mississippi river due to eutrophication may be solved with the help of microbial ecology and ecological engineering, when the activity of denitrifying bacteria is increased in new wetlands for reducing the nitrogen load of the water. Chapter 7 covers the topic of ectomycorrhiza in coastal rain forests on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and links the successful establishing of forests to management approaches such as “new forestry” which mimics the complexity of natural forests. It is shown that biological “legacies” present in “old” soil are important for establishing effective mycorrhiza with fi r seedlings. In Chapter 8, relationships between grazers (elk, bison) and microbes in Yellowstone National Park as well as in the Serengeti are identifi ed as crucial for determining the effects of grazing on grassland ecosystems. Chapter 9 fi nally addresses problems of agricultural management and soil biota which, to the authors’ opinion, have been grossly neglected. All examples in this book show that soil and sediment biology is the key for many, if not most, problems connected with ecosystem management, be they terrestrial, marine or related to freshwater ecosystems. We learn that basic knowledge about biological processes in soils and sediments may thus serve as basis for proper management. Moreover, “understanding life underground can help us to devise more effective responses to global concerns ranging from eutrophication and land degradation to climate change” (Epilogue, p. 192). The book was designed for the general public, policymakers and managers. It is certainly well suited for that audience. However, I would urgently recommend it also to soil biologists—for the student and beginner in this fi eld, to get motivation and orientation in a complex subject, but also for the senior scientist to recharge his imagination which is indispensable for creative research and which sometimes gets lost in daily scientifi c life. Thanks to Yvonne Baskin and to Diana Wall for this excellent book! B O O K R EV EW Island Press, Shearwater Books, 1718 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste. 300, Washington, DC 20009–1148. 2005. 252 p. $26.95. ISBN 1–59726–003–7.