Soils as a Key Component of the Critical Zone 1: Functions and Services

Scientific, socioeconomic, political and media interest in soils has re-emerged in recent years. Soil is now recognized, not only as a substrate for crop production and human activities, but as a regulator of natural environmental balance (for example, supporting water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles) and also as an essential terrestrial compartment of the biosphere, containing 25% of terrestrial biodiversity. Soils are also a vessel for the past, conserving traces of human activities and continental environments. The remarkable multifunctionality of soils places them at the heart of the Critical Zone of humanity. But what do we really know about soils? How are they studied? How are they defined? What is their place in Earth's biosphere? How are they formed? And what exactly do they do? These are just some of the questions that this book answers, providing definitions, helpful summaries and pertinent discussions on the properties of soils, as well as an exploration of their functions and services, the mounting pressures they face and future avenues in soils research. Book jacket.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1786302152
• ISBN13: 9781786302151
• Release Date: October 2018
• Publisher: Wiley-Iste
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 9.4"