Assessing soil biological health in forest soils

Abstract

The sustainability of the world's forest ecosystems is greatly dependent upon the health and function of soils, unfortunately, there is ambiguity in the term "soil health" and only limited understanding of biotic function in soils. This discord leaves land managers and policy makers to formulate decisions without adequate consideration of the soil as a living resource. The following chapter is structured to provide an overview of the unique qualities and characteristics of forest soils followed by a synthesis of knowledge on functional roles of soil organisms, soil carbon (C) as the currency for microbial abundance and activity, and assessing biotic abundance and diversity in forest soils.

Published in

Developments in Soil Science
2019, number: 36, pages: 397-426 Title: Global change and forest soils : cultivating stewardship of a finite natural resource
ISBN: 9780444639981, eISBN: 9780444639998
Publisher: Elsevier

SLU Authors

• Pingree, Melissa

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science
Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63998-1.00016-1

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/102791