Synonyms
Pedosphere
Definition
Soil: refers to the product of mineral weathering and secondary mineral formation, (microbial) mineralization, humus formation, and the resulting element mobilization/immobilization in the upper Earth crust in a pedogenetic process involving chemical, physical, and biological activities.
Introduction
Soil is the basis of terrestrial life, particularly for agriculture, forestry, and generally land-use by man (Driessen et al., 2001). It is also the largest terrestrial ecosystem dominated by high numbers of microorganisms and soil-living animals as well as the root systems of plants. The biota within this ecosystem, not only interact but also actively shape their environment (Fiedler et al., 2002). This can be easily seen with root systems or earthworm/mole tunnels, but the metabolic activities of microorganisms by far exceed these visible alterations. Microbes are essential for the decomposition of plant litter followed by humification. The pedogenesis...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Crawford, J. W., Harris, J. A., Ritz, K., and Young, J. M., 2005. Towards an evolutionary ecology of life in soil. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20, 81–87.
Driessen, P., Deckers, J., Spaargaten, O., and Nachtergaele, F., 2001. Lecture Notes on the Major Soils of the World. World Soil Resources Reports 94, Rome: FAO.
FAO-UNESCO, 2002. Digital Soil Map of the World and Derived Soil Properties. Land and Water Digital Media Series No. 1 Rev. 1. Rome: FAO.
Fiedler, S. H., Jungkunst, P. F., Kleber, M., Sommer, M., Jahn, R., and Stahr, K., 2002. Linking soil classification and soil dynamics – pedological and ecological perspectives. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 165, 517–529.
IUSS Working Group WRB, 2006. World Reference Base for Soil Resources: Atlas. Leuven, The Netherlands: ISRIC-FAO-ISSS-Acco, p. 63.
Jones, D. L., and Bassington, D. S., 1998. Sorption of organic acids in acid soils and its implication in the rhizophere. European Journal of Soil Science, 49, 447–455.
Kögel-Knabner, I., Hatcher, P. G., and Zech, W., 1990. Decomposition and Humification Processes in Forest Soils: Implications from Structural Characterization of Forest Soil Organic Matter. Kyoto, Japan: Trans. 14th Int. Congr. Soil Sci., pp. 218–223.
Meir, P., Cox, P., and Grace, J., 2006. The influence of terrestrial ecosystems on climate. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 21, 254–260.
O’Donnell, A. G., Young, J. M., Rushton, S. P., Shirley, M. D., and Crawford, J. W., 2007. Visualization, modeling and prediction in soil microbiology. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 5, 689–699.
Rillig, M. C., and Mummey, D. L., 2006. Mycorrhizas and soil structure. New Phytologist, 171, 41–53.
Schaumann, G. E., 2006. Soil organic matter beyond molecular structure, part I: macromolecular and supramolecular characteristics. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 169, 145–156.
Stevenson, F. J., 1994. Humus Chemistry. New York: Wiley.
van der Heijden, M. G., Bardgett, R. D., and van Straalen, N. M., 2008. The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters, 11, 296–310.
Wardle, D. A., 2006. The influence of biotic interactions on soil biodiversity. Ecology Letters, 9, 870–886.
Watt, M., Silk, W. K., and Passioura, J. B., 2006. Rates of root and organism growth, soil conditions, and temporal and spatial development of the rhizosphere. Annals of Botany, 97, 839–855.
Watteau, F., and Berthelin, J., 1994. Microbial dissolution of iron and aluminum from soil minerals: efficiency and specificity of hydroxamate siderophores compared to aliphatic acids. European Journal of Soil Biology, 30, 1–9.
Weihermüller, L., Siemens, J., Deurer, M., Knoblauch, S., Rupp, H., Göttlein, A., and Pütz, T., 2007. In situ soil water extraction: a review. Journal Of Environmental Quality, 36, 1735–1748.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kothe, E. (2011). Soils. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_193
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_193
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9211-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9212-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences