The Living Soil: Basics of Soil Science-Biology (French Edition) By Jean-Michel Gobat & Michel Aragno

The science of soils, or pedology, is a rapidly evolving field that increasingly incorporates the action of living organisms. In "Living Soil: Foundations of Pedology - Soil Biology," authors Jean-Michel Gobat, Michel Aragno, and Willy Matthey offer us a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the biological and ecological mechanisms that govern soil formation and function.

This book is divided into three main parts:

1. General Pedology: Essential knowledge about soil constituents and properties, with particular attention to biological aspects.
2. Soil-Organism Relationships: The various types of relationships between organisms and soil, including wood decomposition, peat formation, composting, and bioremediation.
3. Biological Mechanisms: The role of enzymes, trophic networks, bacterial and mycorrhizal symbioses, and rhizosphere activity.

This third edition is extensively revised, with two new chapters dedicated to biodiversity, ecological niches, adaptive strategies, and bio-indication, as well as the place of soil in biogeochemical cycles. Topics such as the application of molecular methods to soil biology, biomineralization, and the classification of humus forms and soils have been significantly developed.

Containing nearly 1500 definitions of scientific terms and more than 1200 bibliographic references, and illustrated with numerous often unpublished case studies, this book is an indispensable reference for a wide audience, ranging from students and researchers to practitioners.

Contents:

• Preface
• Foreword
• The soil, an ecological system
• The building blocks of the soil system: inert constituents and living beings
• Soil properties
• Life in action
• Soil formation, evolution, and classification
• Between life and soil: humus forms
• Soil and vegetation: relationships at multiple levels
• Dead wood, dung, carcasses, and piles of stones: soil annexes
• A blocked decomposition: from sphagnum to peat
• Bioremediation of contaminated soils
• Animals and the soil: a wide variety of forms and functions
• The living soil
• Why so many species in soils? Niches, strategies, biodiversity, and bioindication
• Food chains and networks: the path of energy and bioelements in the soil
• The major biogeochemical cycles pass through the soil
• Soil enzymes
• The rhizosphere: a (micro)biologically active interface between plant and soil
• Mutualistic soil symbioses
• In the future... The biology of soils!
• Bibliography
• Index
• Biographical notes

Features:

• Title: Living Soil: Foundations of Pedology - Soil Biology
  
• Author(s): Jean-Michel Gobat, Michel Aragno, Willy Matthey
  
• Collection: Science and Environmental Engineering
  
• Publisher: EPFL Press
  
• Publication Date: June 29, 2010
  
• Edition: 3rd Edition
  
• Format: Paperback
  
• Number of Pages: 848
  
• Dimensions (in mm): 160 x 240
  
• Weight (in grams): 1550
  
• Language(s): French
  
• EAN13 Paperback: 978-2-88074-718-3