A comprehensive book on basic processes of soil C dynamics and the underlying factors and causes which determine the technical and economic potential of soil C sequestration. The book provides information on the dynamics of both inorganic (lithogenic and pedogenic carbonates) and organic C (labile, intermediate and passive). It describes different types of agroecosystems, and lists questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate thinking and promote academic dialogue. Each chapter has a bibliography containing up-to-date references on the current research, and provides the state-of-the-knowledge while also identifying the knowledge gaps for future research. The critical need for restoring C stocks in world soils is discussed in terms of provisioning of essential ecosystem services (food security, carbon sequestration, water quality and renewability, and biodiversity). It is of interest to students, scientists, and policy makers.

Applied Soils and Micromorphology in Archaeology provides the most up-to-date information on soil science and its applications in archaeology. Based on more than three decades of investigations and experiments, the volume demonstrates how description protocols and complimentary methods (SEM/EDS, microprobe, micro-FTIR, bulk soil chemistry, micro- and macrofossils) are used in interpretations. It also focuses on key topics, such as palaeosols, cultivation, and occupation surfaces, and introduces a range of current issues, such as site inundation, climate change, settlement morphology, herding, trackways, industrial processes, funerary features, and site transformation. Structured around important case studies, Applied Soils and Micromorphology in Archaeology is thoroughly-illustrated, with color plates and figures, tables and other ancillary materials on its website (www.cambridge.org/9781107011380); chapter appendices can be accessed separately using the web (www.geoarchaeology.info/asma). This new book will serve as an essential volume for all archaeological inquiry about soil.

Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for our children. This discipline addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, starvation, obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control and biodiversity depletion. Novel solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, philosophy and social sciences. As actual society issues are now intertwined, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series analyzes current agricultural issues, and proposes alternative solutions, consequently helping all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians wishing to build safe agriculture, energy and food systems for future generations.

This book introduces the geological concept of the "windfield-source-basin system," based on integrated modern and ancient sedimentology studies. It identifies wind field as a main sedimentation-controlling factor that combines with provenance and basin dynamics to determine the formation and distribution of depositional systems. Using the unary properties of facies, sedimentary models and the duality properties of source-to-sink approaches, the concept of a "wind-source-basin system" introduces the "sedimentary system trinity": wind field, provenance and basin properties. "Wind-source-basin systems" provide more plausible genetic interpretations of depositional systems (including both continental and marine facies, and clastic and carbonate systems), as well as more comprehensive and precise predictions of depositional systems (hydrocarbon reservoirs) in unknown regions. Further, the book proposes a series of methods on paleowind field reconstruction, which fill the gaps in paleo-atmospheric field studies in paleoclimatology, and shows that allocating relationships among source-reservoir-cap in petroliferous basins are limited by the "wind-source-basin system". This trinity system also provides a new perspective on petroleum geology assessment. The book appeals to all those engaged in sedimentology, petroleum geology and climatology studies.

Soils are neither good nor bad, but some have inherent or acquired characteristics that may or may not suit our intended use. Unsuitable characteristics are considered to be soil problems, soil constraints or soil limitations. Only twelve percent of global land is right for agricultural production without much limitation. Some soils have severe limitations for crop production. These soils are so called 'problem soils'. Many of them do not have enough fertility to be productive; some are arid and saline; some are very sandy and dry; and some are wet and waterlogged for most of the growing season. The global demand for food, wood, fuel, fiber, medicine and other plant products for the 7.2 billion current world population has created such an immense pressure on global soil resources that even the most fertile soils are losing their productive capacity. We are being compelled to bring more and more unsuitable or marginally suitable soils under cultivation. Unless innovative and integrated soil, crop and environmental management practices are adopted for their improvement and sustainable use, further degradation is inevitable. This book, Management of Soil Problems, identifies the problems and discusses management options in a smooth and reader-friendly style. It will be useful for students and professionals of soil science, agriculture, forestry, geography and environmental sciences.

The book 'Root Biology' written by experts in the field, covers latest research on cellular, genetic, physiological and ecological developmental facets of root growth as well as the interaction of root with an array of microbes whether for the establishment of symbiosis, increasing plant growth or protecting plant from pathogens/attackers. Plant roots provide an excellent model to study physiological, developmental and metabolic processes at a system level. Root system architecture - an excellent creation of nature, is closely interconnected with the availability of soil nutrients. Several strategies including biotechnological interventions are gaining interest and importance for sustainable food production and enhanced resource acquisition. Such strategies have largely focused on root traits for efficient utilization of soil resources. The biotechnological application of root biology is expected to promote the production of food while maintaining ecologically and economically sustainable production systems. With a fortune of information on technical and experimental aspects useful in the laboratory, this extensive book is a valuable resource for researchers, academician and students in the broad field of microbiology, plant and fungal biology.

This book gathers selected papers presented at the 8th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics (ICEG), held on October 28 - November 1, 2018 in Hangzhou, China. The theme of the congress is "Towards a Sustainable Geoenvironment", which means meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Under this theme, the congress covers a broad range of topics and provides an excellent opportunity for academics, engineers, scientists, government officials, regulators, and planners to present, discuss and exchange notes on the latest advances and developments in the research and application of environmental geotechnics.

This book integrates the analyses of organic carbon and carbonate accumulation in soil and lake sediment in a typical arid region of China that has experienced significant climate and land-use changes. It demonstrates that carbonate accumulation greatly exceeds organic carbon in both soil and sediment. It also shows that intensive cropping with sound land management in the arid land not only increases soil organic carbon stock, but also enhances accumulation of soil carbonate, particularly in subsoils. Carbon accumulation in the lake sediment increased between 1950 and 2000, after which it declined, and the authors explore how human activity and climate change may have caused the changes in carbon burial in the lake sediment. This book is of interest to researchers in a number of fields such as soil science, limnology and global change, as well as to the policy-makers.

As part of its efforts to improve fertilizer use and efficiency in West Africa, and following the recent adoption of the West African fertilizer recommendation action plan (RAP) by ECOWAS, this volume focuses on IFDC's technical lead with key partner institutions and experts to build on previous and current fertilizer recommendations for various crops and countries in West Africa for wider uptake by public policy makers and fertilizer industry actors.

Bioremediation is the use of microorganisms' metabolism to degrade waste contaminants (sewage, domestic, and industrial effluents) into non-toxic or less toxic materials by natural biological processes. Volume 2 offers new discussion of remediation through fungi-or mycoremediation-and its multifarious possibilities in applied remediation engineering and the future of environmental sustainability. Fungi have the biochemical and ecological capability to degrade environmental organic chemicals and to decrease the risk associated with metals, semi-metals, noble metals, and radionuclides, either by chemical modification or by manipulating chemical bioavailability. Additional expanded texts shows the capability of these fungi to form extended mycelia networks, the low specificity of their catabolic enzymes, and their use against pollutants as a growth substrate, making these fungi well suited for bioremediation processes. Their mycelia exhibit the robustness of adapting to highly limiting environmental conditions often experienced in the presence of persistent pollutants, which makes them more useful compared to other microbes. Despite dominating the living biomass in soil and being abundant in aquatic ecosystems, however, fungi have not been exploited for the bioremediation of such environments until this added Volume 2. This book covers the various types of fungi and associated fungal processes used to clean up waste and wastewaters in contaminated environments and discusses future potential applications.

In any ecosystem, plant and microbe interaction is inevitable. They not only co-exist but also support each other's survival and also provide for sustenance in stressful environment. Agro-ecosystems of many regions around the globe are affected by multi-stress. Major limiting factors affecting the agricultural productivity worldwide are environmental stresses. Apart from decreasing yield they introduce devastating impact on plant growth as well. Plants battle with various kind of stresses with the help of symbiotic association with the microbes in the rhizosphere. Naturally existing plant-microbe interaction facilitates survival of plants under these stressful conditions. Rhizosphere consists of many groups of microbes, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is one such group of microbes which assist plants in coping with multiple stresses and in plant growth as well. These microbes help in stress physiology of the plants and can be extremely useful in solving agricultural as well food security problems. The proposed book is split into two parts, with an aim to provide comprehensive description and highlight a holistic approach. It elucidates various mechanisms in rhizosphere of nutrient management, stress tolerance and enhanced crop productivity. The book discusses rhizospheric flora and its importance in enhancement of plant growth, nutrient content, yield of various crops and vegetables as well as soil fertility and health. Both volumes of the book addresses fundamentals, applications as well as research trends and new prospects of agricultural sustainability. Volume 2: Nutrient Management and Crop Improvement, contains chapters which cover a broad overview of plant growth promoting activities of microbes. This proposed book also highlights the contribution of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and zinc-solubilizing microbes from rhizospheric soil to develop efficient indigenous microbial consortia to enhance the food and nutritional security. With the given content and layout the proposed book will be an all-inclusive collection of information, which will be useful for students, academicians, researchers working in the field of rhizospheric mechanisms, agricultural microbiology, soil microbiology, biotechnology, agronomy and sustainable agriculture and also for policy makers in the area of food security and sustainable agriculture. It will be of special interest to both academics and professionals working in the fields of microbiology, soil microbiology, biotechnology and agronomy, as well as the plant protection sciences. Timely, this edited and research book provides an essential and comprehensive source of material from basic to advance findings on microbes and their role in agricultural and soil sustainability.

As the world population is exploding and alongside fluctuations in climate is also prevalent, there is an increasing stress on the food requirements of the population. We have an urgent necessity to produce more food in the limited agricultural land. Further, to feed 7 billion people there is a requirement of high yielding crops, without harming environment and limiting the use of unnecessary pesticide and chemical fertilizers. Therefore it has become crucial to develop agri-bio-techniques which are environment friendly and also give high crop productivity. Many countries are evaluating the utility of biotechnology and its role in addressing problems of food security and poverty. Biotechnology is the application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing and production of materials by utilising biological agents. These agents are exploited to provide goods and services. Agricultural biotechnology encompasses a growing list of techniques that range from simple probes to determine a relevant gene from the complete genome to manipulating genes for a desired outcome. Many other popular methods used in the realm of agricultural technology are - gene integration, Marker-assisted breeding, Tissue culture, Gene profiling or association mapping, Metabolomics etc. The fundamental challenge facing the scientific community is how to devise innovative strategies that will bring all developed as well as developing countries into the "biological fold" and to do so in ways that will take full advantage of advances in the biological sciences to curb poverty, improve public health, and promote human development. This book contains information on eco-friendly techniques for high crop productivity and it is a myriad of different techniques and technology used to sustain productivity in crop plants. There are fewer books focusing on large-scale organic farming, molecular farming etc. Multidisciplinary research and literature is needed to deliver knowledge and products into the marketplace which fulfil these requirements. The present book is a collection of literature contributed by experts, scientists, professors, and researchers from around the world, it emphasizes work of concerned scientist and his choice of techniques used for enhancement of agricultural production. This book analyses the use of modern techniques to increase crop yields, production, and risk of hunger linked to socioeconomic scenarios.

This unique book provides a concise account of Indian Paleogene and presents a unified view of the Paleogene sequences of India. The Paleogene, comprising the early part of the Cenozoic Era, was the most dynamic period in the Earth's history with profound changes in the biosphere and geosphere. The period spans ~42 million years, beginning from post- K/T mass extinction event at ~65 Ma and ending at ~23 Ma, when the first Antarctic ice sheet appeared in the Southern Hemisphere. The early Paleogene (Paleocene-Eocene) has been considered a globally warm period, superimposed on which were several transient hyperthermal events of extreme warmth. Of these, the Palaeocene Eocene Thermal Maxima (PETM) boundary interval is the most prominent extreme warming episode, lasting 200 Ka. PETM is characterized by 2-60/00 global negative carbon isotope excursion. The event coincided with the Benthic Extinction Event (BEE) in deep sea and Larger Foraminifera Turnover (LFT) in shallow seas. Rapid ~60-80 warming of high latitudinal regions led to major faunal and floral turnovers in continental, shallow-marine and deep-marine areas. The emergence and dispersal of mammals with modern characteristics, including Artiodactyls, Perissodactyls and Primates (APP), and the evolution and expansion of tropical vegetation are some of the significant features of the Paleogene warm world. In the Indian subcontinent, the beginning and end of the Paleogene was marked by various events that shaped the various physiographic features of the Indian subcontinent. The subcontinent lay within the equatorial zone during the earliest part of the Paleogene. Carbonaceous shale, coal and lignite deposits of early Eocene age (~55.5-52 Ma) on the western and north-eastern margins of the Indian subcontinent are rich in fossils and provide information on climate as well as the evolution and paleobiogeography of tropical biota. Indian Paleogene deposits in the India-Asia collision zone also provide information pertaining to the paleogeography and timing of collision. Indian Paleogene rocks are exposed in the Himalayan and Arakan mountains; Assam and the shelf basins of Kutch-Saurashtra, Western Rajasthan; Tiruchirappalli-Pondicherry and Andaman and, though aerially limited, these rocks bear geological evidence of immense importance.

Researchers now recognize that above- and belowground communities are indirectly linked to one another, often by plant-mediated mechanisms. To date, however, there has been no single multi-authored edited volume on the subject. This book remedies that gap, and offers state-of-the art insights into basic and applied research on aboveground-belowground interactions and their functional consequences. Drawing on a diverse pool of global expertise, the authors present diverse approaches that span a range of scales and levels of complexity. The respective chapters provide in-depth information on the current state of research, and outline future prospects in the field of aboveground-belowground community ecology. In particular, the book's goal is to expand readers' knowledge of the evolutionary, community and ecosystem consequences of aboveground-belowground interactions, making it essential reading for all biologists, graduate students and advanced undergraduates working in this rapidly expanding field. It touches on multiple research fields including ecology, botany, zoology, entomology, microbiology and the related applied areas of biodiversity management and conservation.

The Azores archipelago consists of nine islands that emerge from the Azores Plateau in the Central Northern Atlantic, situated within the triple junction of the American, Eurasian and African lithosphere plates. Subaerial volcanic activity has been well known since the Pliocene and continues today, with several well-documented eruptions since the settlement of the islands in the fifteenth century. The origin of the Azores Plateau has been a matter of scientific debate and thus this book provides the first comprehensive overview of geological features in the Azores from volcanological, geochemical, petrological, paleontological, structural and hydrological perspectives

Nowadays, demands on modern civil engineering structures require not only safe technical solutions, but also additional approaches, involving ecological, sociological and economical aspects. This book reacts on these new requirements with a focus on earth structures for transport engineering, mainly for motorways and railways. Technical demands have to be adequately related to the risk with which the design and execution are connected. Soil used for the construction, together with subsoil, are natural materials with a high degree of inhomogeneity. Therefore, the risk when constructing with such materials is much higher than for structures utilizing man-made materials. The engineering approach is firstly focused on the geotechnical risk identification and subsequently on the reduction of this risk. Geotechnical risk is linked to the uncertainties for individual phases of the design and construction processes. Ground model, geotechnical design model, calculation model and structure execution are the main phases of the above-mentioned processes. Risk reduction involves the lowering of the range of uncertainties for individual phases, guaranteeing safe and optimal technical solutions. Eurocode 7 "Geotechnical design" creates a general frame of this risk identification and reduction approach. Earth structures are offering great opportunities for sustainability approach. Therefore, the possibilities how to decrease consumption of land (greenfields), energy and natural aggregates are at the centre of interest. In parallel to sustainability, the principles of availability and affordability for transport infrastructures are discussed. The main aim there is to eliminate the impact of interaction of the transport infrastructure with natural and man-made hazards, thus guaranteeing long-term functionality. This book will be of interest to specialists responsible for transport infrastructure planning, investors (project owners) of motorways and railways and environmental engineers. The main focus is on those responsible for geotechnical investigations, earth structures design and on contractors of such structures.

Phytoplasma-associated diseases are a major limiting factor to quality and productivity of many ornamentals, horticultural and other economically important agriculture crops worldwide. Annual losses due to phytoplasma diseases in many crops vary, but under the pathogen favorable conditions they always lead to disastrous consequences to farming community. As there is no effective cure for phytoplasma diseases, the management options emphasize on their exclusion, minimizing their spread by insect vectors and propagation materials and on development of host plant resistance. The phytoplasma associated plant diseases have a history of more than 50 years. Phytoplasmas have undoubtedly infected plants and cause diseases for centuries before they are described and proven to be the causal agents. But important progress related to identification of phytoplasmas only began after 1980's. Phytoplasmas have emerged as the most serious constraints in the production of several crops all around the world during last four decades. Phytoplasmas constitute a major limiting factor to quality and productivity of cereals, horticultural, ornamentals and many other economically important crops all over the world. Annual losses due to phytoplasma diseases may vary, but under the pathogen favorable condition, phytoplasma disease may lead to disastrous consequences for farming and industry community. The scientific literature concerning phytoplasma occurrence, characterization, diagnosis, detection, and management is growing at a fast pace. Significant advancement in the last decades on diagnostic, biological and molecular properties, epidemiology, host-pathogen-insect interactions as well as management of phytoplasmas has been made. Till date, no authentic compilation is available to know the progress of phytoplasmas characterization major crops all over the world. The planned book will compile all the updated information available information on phytoplasmas by distinguished experts in the form of edited book entitled "Characterization and epidemiology of phytoplasma associated diseases". The book covers recent and update information on emerging and re-emerging phytoplasma diseases affecting important crops in tropics and subtropics. It provides comprehensive information on disease distribution, occurrence, and identification of the phytoplasmas including the recent approaches for diagnostics, transmission, and information about losses and geographical distribution along with and management aspects. This volume contains 11-12 chapters contributed by the experienced and recognized experts working on different group of phytoplasmas affecting major crops all over the world. The information on various topics is at advanced as well as comprehensive level and provides the period wise developments of phytoplasma research. The book covers major chapters on an up to date progress of phytoplasma research, and then phytoplasma diseases associated with vegetable, pulse, oils crops, cereals, sugar crops, fruit crops, ornamentals, medicinal plants, palms species, forest tress and weeds. We have covered historical background, geographical distribution, identification and characterization, genetic diversity, host pathogen interaction and management aspects of important phytoplasma diseases infecting our major agricultural crops. The information on various topics is advanced as well as comprehensive, and provides thought provoking ideas for planning novel research ideas for future. This book will be useful to everyone interested in mollicutes, phytoplasma, spiroplasmas, plant pathology, disease control and plant biology and serve as an exhaustive and up-to-date compendium of references on various aspects of different groups of phytoplasmas affecting important crops worldwide.

This book presents advanced ecological techniques for crop cultivation and the chapters are arranged into four sections, namely general aspects, weeds, fungi, worms and microbes. Biocontrol is an ecological method of controlling pests such as insects, mites, weeds and plant diseases using other organisms. This practice has been used for centuries. Biocontrol relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms. Natural enemies of insect pests, also known as biological control agents, include predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and competitors.

This book presents the study of limnogeomorphology, in which past proxy data such as lacustrine sediments with information on landform development can be linked to modern observed data acquired by instruments, including hydro-geomorphological and sedimentary data. Traditionally, in the field of earth sciences, it has been thought that geophysical studies dealing mainly with the present process were not smoothly linked to geological studies that originated from historical studies. Although such earth-surface process studies are closely related to those on historical landform development in the field of geomorphology, they have been studied separately. Those two geomorphology studies correspond to process geomorphology (dynamic geomorphology) and historical geomorphology. There have been some attempts to combine them; however, they lacked past quantitative records available for further analyses. In the study of limnogeomorphology, proxy data can be converted to quantitative information to be utilized in future environmental discussions. This book also covers information not only on large lake-catchment systems, but on small systems. Those include long-term and short-term and large-scale and small-scale environmental changes in east Eurasia such as Lake Baikal, Lake Khuvsgul, Lake Biwa, and small lakes in Japan, Mongolia, China, and Korea.

The Sedimentary Basins of the United States and Canada, Second Edition, focuses on the large, regional, sedimentary accumulations in Canada and the United States. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the tectonic setting and structural and paleogeographic evolution of the basin it covers, with details on structure and stratigraphy. The book features four new chapters that cover the sedimentary basins of Alaska and the Canadian Arctic. In addition to sedimentary geologists, this updated reference is relevant for basin analysis, regional geology, stratigraphy, and for those working in the hydrocarbon exploration industry.

This book offers various soil and water treatment technologies due to increasing global soil and water pollution. In many countries, the management of contaminated land has matured, and it is developing in many others. Topics covered include chemical and ecological risk assessment of contaminated sites; phytomanagement of contaminants; arsenic removal; selection and technology diffusion; technologies and socio-environmental management; post-remediation long-term management; soil and groundwater laws and regulations; and trace element regulation limits in soil. Future prospects of soil and groundwater remediation are critically discussed in this book. Hence, readers will learn to understand the future prospects of soil and groundwater contaminants and remediation measures. Key Features: Discusses conventional and novel aspects of soil and groundwater remediation technologies Includes new monitoring/sensing technologies for soil and groundwater pollution Features a case study of remediation of contaminated sites in the old, industrial, Ruhr area in Germany Highlights soil washing, soil flushing, and stabilization/solidification Presents information on emerging contaminants that exhibit new challenges This book is designed for undergraduate and graduate courses and can be used as a handbook for researchers, policy makers, and local governmental institutes. Soil and Groundwater Remediation Technologies: A Practical Guide is written by a team of leading global experts in the field.

This book offers an overview of geospatial technologies in land resources mapping, monitoring and management. It consists of four main sections: geospatial technologies - principles and applications; geospatial technologies in land resources mapping; geospatial technologies in land resources monitoring; and geospatial technologies in land resources management. Each part is divided into detailed chapters that include illustrations and tables. The authors, from leading institutes, such as the ICAR-NBSS&LUP, IIT-B, NRSC, ICRISAT, share their experiences and offer case studies to provide advanced insights into the field. It is a valuable resource for the scientific and the teaching community, extension scientists at research institutes and agricultural universities/colleges as well as those involved in planning and managing land resources for sustainable agriculture and livelihood security.

This volume provides researchers, students, practising engineers and managers access to knowledge, practical formulae and new hypotheses for the dynamics, mixing, sediment regimes and morphological evolution in estuaries. The objectives are to explain the underlying governing processes and synthesise these into descriptive formulae which can be used to guide the future development of any estuary. Each chapter focuses on different physical aspects of the estuarine system - identifying key research questions, outlining theoretical, modeling and observational approaches, and highlighting the essential quantitative results. This allows readers to compare and interpret different estuaries around the world, and develop monitoring and modeling strategies for short-term management issues and for longer-term problems, such as global climate change. The book is written for researchers and students in physical oceanography and estuarine engineering, and serves as a valuable reference and source of ideas for professional research, engineering and management communities concerned with estuaries.

Judicious soil fertility management is crucial for sustainable crop production and food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This book describes the various concepts and approaches underlying soil and soil fertility management research in SSA over the last fifty years. It provides examples of important innovations generated and assesses the position of research within the research-to-development continuum, including how innovations have been validated with the intended beneficiaries. Using the experience of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) as a case study, the authors analyse how processes, partnerships and other factors have affected research priorities, the delivery of outputs, and their uptake by farming communities in SSA. They evaluate both successes and failures of past investments in soil fertility research and important lessons learnt which provide crucial information for national and international scientists currently engaged in this research area. The book is organised in a number of chapters each covering a chronological period characterised by its primary research content and approaches and by the dominant research paradigms and delivery models.