Originally published in 1975 Terrestrial Environments covers the zoogeography and ecology of the main terrestrial environments of the world, including fresh water habitats with emphasis on their fauna. The book also explores climate and vegetation in so far as they affect animal life. Finally, the selective influence of the environment on its fauna is discussed and, conversely, the influence of regulation, a synthesis of these interrelations. Morphological adaptations of the animals inhabiting various types of terrestrial environments are considered in relation to locomotion, feeding, and escape from enemies. Physiological adaptations are also mentioned briefly, and the adaptative importunate of diurnal and seasonal rhythms is stressed.

Understanding Soils in Urban Environments is a concise book explaining how urban soils develop, change and erode. Soils provide the foundation for buildings and infrastructure, and the medium for plant growth in fields, parks and gardens. They can act as a sink for waste, and can be contaminated in urban areas by heavy metals, organic chemicals and other contaminants. Soil properties such as water retention, salinity and acidity can cause environmental and structural problems for buildings and other engineering works. This text recognises and draws attention to the particular nature of soils in urban environments and discusses their distinctive management needs. Since the first edition was published in 2011, it has been used across a wide range of disciplines, many of which require an understanding of urban soil and specific soil properties that cause environmental concern. Urban soils are now recognised as much more important now than they were ten years ago, when they were seen as a poor relation to agriculture. The need for better understanding of all aspects of this topic has become evident especially at conferences in the last 5 years in Australia and internationally, where urban soils are now included as specific sections, not just as subsets such as contamination. This new edition updates and expands on the original text, including a specific chapter on the use of manufactured soil for rehabilitation and recreation, and additional case studies in other chapters, particularly contamination. The text is updated throughout to address the increasing importance of soil health for seed banks and parklands, and its implications for planning developments, the legal determination of bioregions, and addressing environmental issues that can arise from mismanagement of urban soils.

This important volume provides a plethora of information on aerial vehicles and their possible roles in revolutionizing agricultural procedures through spectral analysis of terrains, soils, crops, water resources, diseases, floods, drought, and farm activities. There are several semi-autonomous and autonomous (robotic) aerial vehicles that are examined for their efficiency in offering detailed spectral data about agrarian regions and individual farms. Among them, small drone aircrafts such as fixed-winged and copter models have already caught the imagination of farmers. They are spreading fast in every nook and corner of the farm world. However, there are many more aerial robots that are utilized in greater detail during farming. In this volume, the focus is on aerial vehicles such as parafoils, blimps, aerostats, and kites, and how they are being evaluated for use in experimental farms and fields. A few aerial vehicles, such as robotic parafoils, have been adopted to procure aerial spectral data and visual imagery to aid agronomic procedures. These and other aerial robots are expected to change and improve the use of the sky in agricultural endeavors and the way we conduct agronomic procedures in the very near future. This volume is a timely resource for agricultural researchers, professors and students, and the general public who are interested in aerial vehicles.

Sebacinales have emerged as a fascinating order with mutualistic plant-fungal symbionts that consists of exclusively beneficial fungi.

This volume of Soil Biology presents an overview of the current results in Sebacinales research with a focus on the potential of these fungi in crop improvement and stress tolerance. The authors demonstrate that Sebacinales are not only extremely versatile in their associations with roots, but are also almost universally present as symptomless endophytes. With this extraordinary diversity, Sebacinales with the key fungus "Piriformospora indica" might possess remarkable significance in natural ecosystems. Their biotechnological applications are expected to improve the quality of crops while maintaining ecologically and economically sustainable production systems.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in agriculture. The first chapter reviews the use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as biostimulants for sustainable crop production and explores the benefits of its use, such as bidirectional nutrient exchange and soil quality. The chapter discusses the requirements needed for successful implementation of AMF in sustainable crop production, and also maps the current market for mycorrhizal products. The second chapter explores our understanding of how AMF can modify nutrient availability in soil, specifically concerning the roles that fungal ecology and physiology may play during the processes of nutrient acquisition and transformation. The chapter also refers to future opportunities in research to exploit AMF to improve nutrient-use efficiency. The third chapter highlights further advances in our understanding of how AMF can improve root function in agricultural systems. The chapter also discusses the functional diversity apparent in plant responses to AMF colonisation. The final chapter reviews the use of AMF-based bio-inoculants in tea cultivation. The chapter also discusses the range of AMF associated with tea and their effects on the tea rhizosphere, plant growth and quality.

Organic farming is not only a philosophy; it is also a well-researched science. The second edition of The Science and Technology of Organic Farming presents the scientific basis of organic farming and the methods of application needed to achieve adequate yields through plant nutrition and protection. Organic farming is a scientifically derived method of improving soil fertility to increase agricultural yields with limited chemical inputs. As such, it can meet public demand for reduced chemical inputs in agriculture and play a key role in meeting the needs of a growing world population. The new edition of this highly regarded book gives clear and comprehensive details on how soil fertility can be maintained and how plants can be nourished in organic agriculture. Chapters on soil fertility and plant nutrition explain the chemistry of the plant, the soil, and the soil solution and outline the importance of plant macronutrients and micronutrients. The book offers practical information on using of green manures, composts and lime to maintain soil fertility; introduces methods of tillage of land; provides organic methods of controlling weeds, insects, and diseases; and suggests how food produce can be stored without refrigeration. The text provides information on how to assess and govern the nutritional status of crops and the fertility and condition of soil and presents guidelines, recommendations, and procedures for determining the best fertility recommendations for individual situations. This edition includes an entirely new chapter on hydroponics that explains organic approaches to hydroponic crop production. With a full bibliography of references, this text is a practical guide for anyone interested in organic farming, from farmers and agricultural advisers to teachers, soil scientists, plant scientist, entomologists and students of other biological and environmental sciences.

This book examines global environmental governance and how legal, institutional, and conceptual reform can facilitate a transformation to a new 'natural-systems' form of agriculture. Profound global climate disruption makes it essential that we replace our current agricultural system - described in this book as a fossil-carbon-dependent 'modern extractive agriculture' - with a natural-systems agriculture featuring perennial grains growing in polycultures, thereby mimicking the natural grassland and forest ecosystems that modern extractive agriculture has largely destroyed. After examining relevant international legal and conceptual foundations (sovereignty, federalism, global governance) and existing international organizations focusing on agriculture, the book explores legal and institutional opportunities to facilitate dramatic agricultural reform and ecological restoration. Among other things, it explains how innovative federalism structures around the world provide patterns for reorienting global environmental governance, including what the book calls eco-states that would, through exercise of pluralistic sovereignty, be responsible for agroecological management. Drawing from his experience working in international institutions, the author provides detailed global-governance proposals for facilitating the type of agricultural reform that can help avoid ecological collapse, especially through soil degradation and climate change. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international law, agroecology, climate change, ecological restoration, sustainable development, and global governance, as well as policy-makers and practitioners working in these fields.

This important volume, Soil Salinity Management in Agriculture, addresses the crucial issue of soil salinity of potential farmland and provides a comprehensive picture of the saline environment and plant interactions, along with management and reclamation methods and policies. With contributions from researchers from the fields of agricultural chemistry, soil science, biotechnology, agronomy, environmental sciences, and plant breeding and genetics, the volume emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. Agriculture is one of the prime users of water, particularly in arid places with already-limited water resources, and its effects are diverse and far reaching. Providing a nuanced study of agricultural resource management, this informative book takes a four-pronged approach, covering research on: * The impact of agriculture on water * The impact of agriculture on soil quality and its ecological health * Energy and greenhouse gases * The impact of a growing population on agricultural resources Topics include the connection between chemical fertilizer use in agriculture and stream water quality; beef and dairy production on livestock, dairy, and crops; livestock and greenhouse gases; energy consumption rates in agriculture; efficient farming techniques, such as precision agriculture, irrigation management, and sustainable water technologies; and more. This informative and accessible volume offers a comprehensive guide to this vital and necessary field of study.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. Changing land-use practices and the role of soil biological diversity has been a major focus of soil science research over the past couple of decades-a trend that is likely to continue. The information presented in this book points to a holistic approach to soil management. The first part looks at the land use effects on soil carbon storage, and considers a range of factors including carbon sequestration in soils. The second part of the book presents research investigating the interactions between soil properties, plant species, and the soil biota.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. Organic practices are quickly redefining how agriculture is done around the world, as we come to realize how detrimental conventional agriculture is to local and global environments and economies. This book serves as an overview of some of the important topics in organic agriculture. The volume is broken into several sections which explore the effects of organic practices on crop productivity, the use of biofertilizers, plant cultivars, and compare the environmental impact with conventional agriculture. Also covered are the following topics: *Organic agriculture as a strategy to combat many of the negative effects of conventional agriculture, such as pollution and loss of soil fertility *How practices, such as the use of biofertilizers, can enhance plant growth over the use of chemical fertilizers *Vermicompost and the high potential to benefit land in agricultural use *Organic practices' associations with increased soil fertility, increased biodiversity, and greenhouse gas sequestration *The negative effects of organic agriculture practices, such as an increase in nitrogen pollution or pests This easily accessible reference volume offers a comprehensive guide to this rapidly expanding field. Edited by an experienced writer with experience in both food systems and agricultural sociology, Organic Agricultural Practices: Alternatives to Conventional Agricultural Systems is an authoritative and easy-to-use reference, ideal for both researchers in the field and students who wish to gain an overview to this important field of study.

Comprised of three sections, this covers the nutrient dynamics and productivity of global agroecosystems. It focuses on the major aspects that make up agroecosystems, such as soils, climate, crops, nutrient dynamics, and productivity. It introduces agroeocsystems and describes global soil types that support vast crop belts, then deals with the principles that drive crop growth, nutrient dynamics and ecosystematic functions within any agroecosystem. It also details the influence of agronomic practices and factors such as soil microbes, organic matter, crop genetic nature, irrigation, weeds, and cropping systems that affect productivity of agroecosystems.

The reuse of wastewater in irrigation is being practiced only recently to solve water scarcity problems in agriculture. Management of water, soil, crop, and operational procedures, including precautions to protect farm workers, play an important role in the successful use of sewage effluent for irrigation. Appropriate water management practices must be followed to prevent salinization. If salt is not flushed out of the root zone by leaching and removed from the soil by effective drainage, salinity problems can build up rapidly. Leaching and drainage are, thus, two important water management practices to avoid salinization of soils. One of the options that may be available to farmers is the blending of treated sewage with conventional sources of water to obtain a blended water of acceptable salinity level. This important book focuses on the use of wastewater as a valuable resource for agricultural micro irrigation purposes. It covers effective wastewater management practices in a variety of climates, including semi-arid regions and others; how to perform effective evaluations to gauge the quality of the water on plants, including potatoes, maize, and eggplant; and the cost-benefit of using wastewater. It addresses the sources of wastewater for irrigation and the problems along with challenges, including water quality, clogging, soil quality, and more. The mission of this compendium is to serve as a reference manual for professionals in biological and civil engineering, horticulture, soil and crop science, and agronomy, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students in related fields. It will be a valuable reference for professionals who work with micro irrigation/wastewater and water management, for technical agricultural centers, irrigation centers, agricultural extension services, and other agencies that work with micro irrigation programs.

The tenth and final volume in the series Research Advances in Sustainable Micro Irrigation, this valuable book focuses on new and recent innovations in technology, methods, and applications for micro irrigation. The book covers a wide variety of topics, including successes in micro irrigation in India, how new methods have helped the local economies in several areas, ways to enhance crop yield through new building programs, and new technology and systems. It looks at different aspects of these new innovations in micro irrigation, including economic impact, evaluation methods, bubbler systems, success with particular crops, scheduling, and more.

This new book, Sustainable Micro Irrigation Design Systems for Agricultural Crops, brings together the best research for efficient micro irrigation methods for field crops, focusing on design methods and best practices. Covering a multitude of topics, the book presents research and studies on: Indigenous alternatives for use of saline and alkali waters Hydraulic performance Distribution of moisture Fertigation technology Buried micro irrigation laterals Drip irrigation scheduling Rainwater harvesting Adoption and economic impact of a micro irrigation model This book is a must for those interested in irrigation planning and management, namely, researchers, scientists, educators, and students.

Micro irrigation, also known as trickle, drip, localized, high frequency, or pressurized irrigation, is an irrigation method that saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. It is done through narrow tubes that deliver water directly to the base of the plant. Clogging is a menace in the success of drip irrigation systems, and the situation is more complex under subsurface drip irrigation. Irrigation planners and engineers have found a variety of innovative methods to help to minimize clogging. This book emphasizes the implications of micro irrigation clogging, especially under the subsurface placement of laterals. The book offers remedies to decrease clogging and methodologies to improve the performance of micro sprinklers. This valuable resource addresses this critical problem, covering: Challenges in clogging under subsurface drip irrigation Principles, practices, and management of emitter clogging Efficiency of acidification for unclogging of emitters Performance characteristics of micro sprinklers The book will serve as a reference manual for professionals in biological and civil engineering, horticulture, soil and crop science, and agronomy, as well as for graduate and undergraduate students in related fields. It will be a valuable reference for professionals who work with micro irrigation/wastewater and water management and for technical agricultural centers, irrigation centers, agricultural extension services, and other agencies that work with micro irrigation programs.

This new volume in the Innovations and Challenges in Micro Irrigation series covers an array of technologies to estimate evapotranspiration and to evaluate parameters that are needed in the management of micro irrigation, with worldwide applicability to irrigation management in agriculture. Topics include recent evapotranspiration research, performance evaluation of filters and emitters, evaluation of fertigation and ground water with treated wastewater effluent, performance of pulse drip irrigated potato under organic agriculture practices in sandy soils, impact of polyethylene mulch on micro irrigated cabbage, and tree injection irrigation.

MULTI-SCALE BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN SOIL ECOSYSTEMS Provides a state-of-the-art overview of research in soil biogeochemical processes and strategies for greenhouse gas mitigation under climate change Food security and soil health for the rapidly growing human population are threatened by increased temperature and drought, soil erosion and soil quality degradation, and other problems caused by human activities and a changing climate. Because greenhouse gas emission is the primary driver of climate change, a complete understanding of the cycles of carbon and major nutritional elements is critical for developing innovative strategies to sustain agricultural development and environmental conservation. Multi-Scale Biogeochemical Processes in Soil Ecosystems: Critical Reactions and Resilience to Climate Changes is an up-to-date overview of recent research in soil biogeochemical processes and applications in ecosystem management. Organized into three parts, the text examines molecular-scale processes and critical reactions, presents ecosystem-scale studies of ecological hotspots, and discusses large-scale modeling and prediction of global biogeochemical cycles. Part of the Wiley - IUPAC Series on Biophysico-Chemical Processes in Environmental Systems, this authoritative volume: Provides readers with a systematic and interdisciplinary approach to sustainable agricultural development and management of soil ecosystems in a changing climate Features contributions from an international team of leading scientists Examines topics such as soil organic matter stabilization, soil biogeochemistry modeling, and soil responses to environmental changes Discusses strategies for mitigating greenhouse gas emission and improving soil health and ecosystems resilience Includes an introduction to working across scales to project soil biogeochemical responses to climatic change Multi-Scale Biogeochemical Processes in Soil Ecosystems: Critical Reactions and Resilience to Climate Changes is essential reading for scientists, engineers, agronomists, chemists, biologists, academic researchers, consultants, and other professionals whose work involves the nutrient cycle, ecosystem management, and climate change.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on crop rotations in agriculture. The first chapter discusses the effects of crop rotation and intercropping management practices and their impact on soil health enhancement and stability. It also considers the importance of leguminous crops and soil organic matter in maintaining healthy soils, sustaining crop productivity and enhancing biodiversity. The second chapter examines the principles of crop rotation, precrop effects in crop rotations, and the nutrient effects of legumes and other rotation crops. It also reviews the role of rotation crops in suppressing weeds, diseases and pests and studies rotations and crop yields, as well as the challenge of designing a crop rotation. The third chapter illustrates how crop models account for the interactions between soil, genotypes, management, and climate, on crops grown in various rotations, and their effects on yield and environmental outcomes under current and future climate scenarios. The fourth chapter assesses the potential of decision support systems for crop rotations in improving soil health and agricultural sustainability. The final chapter reviews how crop rotations with non-cereal species can be implemented to substantially reduce inoculum sources for residue-borne cereal leaf diseases.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on cover crops in agriculture. The first chapter describes the contribution of cover crops to improving soil health. The chapter reviews their key role e.g. supplying a food source for soil organisms, providing a source of carbon to help build soil organic matter, enhancing nutrient dynamics in the soil and improving soil structure. The second chapter considers recent research on the benefits of cover crops in organic cultivation in areas such as soil structure and erosion control as well as nutrient cycling. It also looks at the wider role of cover crops in control of weeds, diseases and pests, promoting biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs). The third chapter highlights the use of different cover crops species to promote live or dead soil mulch cover in Conservation Agriculture systems. It also reviews how cover crops effect aspects such as soil acidity and nutrient availability, soil physical and biological properties, soil nematode control, weed control and grain yield. The final chapter reviews the role of cover crops in weed control. Cover crops are important additions to crop rotations because they suppress weeds during rotational periods when crops are absent and provide ecosystem services that enhance soil quality and fertility.

The quality of agricultural soils are always under threat from chemical contaminants, which ultimately affect the productivity and safety of crops. Besides agrochemicals, a new generation of substances invades the soil through irrigation with reclaimed wastewater and pollutants of organic origin such as sewage sludge or cattle manure. Emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and microplastics are now present in agricultural soils, but the understanding of their impact on soil quality is still limited. With focus on in situ bioremediation, this book provides an exhaustive analysis of the current biological methodologies for recovering polluted agricultural soils as well as monitoring the effectiveness of bioremediation.

Precision farming involves soil fertility and crop growth monitoring, electronic equipment, remote sensing, global information and positioning systems, computer models, decision support systems, variable-rate technology, and accurate recordkeeping. This book on precision techniques provides valuable information on instrumentation and methodology. It discusses the impact of precision techniques on soil fertility, nutrient dynamics, and crop productivity and highlights the application of GPS techniques to regulate fertilizer supply based on soil nutrient distribution and yield goals set by farmers. The book considers advances and examples from different agroecosystems from all continents.

"This book provides an informative global perspective on soilless culture systems (SCS) around the world...the book promises to bring together the current best practice in SCS horticulture to create an important industry reference for all participants." ISHS - Chronica Horticulturae Soilless cultivation techniques (including hydroponic systems) have attracted growing attention as a way of growing horticultural crops more efficiently without taking up more land. These controlled environment systems are also less vulnerable to climate change and are particularly suited to urban farming as part of the shift to more localised, circular food systems. Advances in horticultural soilless culture provides a comprehensive assessment of recent research in this important area, paying close attention to the advances in optimising substrates for soilless cultivation, as well as the developments in solid and liquid-medium container systems, fertigation systems, modelling and process control. The collection includes case studies on horticultural crops such as tomatoes, strawberries and ornamentals. With its distinguished editor and international range of expert authors, Advances in horticultural soilless culture will be a standard reference for university and other researchers involved in horticultural science, hydroponics and soilless cultivation. It will also be a valuable resource for government and other agencies supporting vertical and urban farming systems, as well as companies involved in this sector.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on drought-resistant crops. The first chapter assesses the genes involved in drought and heat tolerance, as well as the physiological traits related to increased tolerance to abiotic stress in wheat. It reviews advances in our understanding of the molecular markers associated with these physiological traits, and the roles of key genes in determining a wheat plant's response to heat and drought stress. The second chapter discusses mechanisms of drought resistance in rice. It reviews ways of assessing drought tolerance performance, identifying genes promoting drought tolerance through quantitative trait loci (QLT) analysis, as well as breeding for drought tolerance. The third chapter highlights the genetic diversity and quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with the traits contributing to drought and heat tolerance in soybean. It also reviews genomic resources that can facilitate a better understanding of phenotype-genotype associations and formulate genomic-assisted breeding strategies. The final chapter addresses the polygenic nature of tolerance to drought and to heat in grain legumes. It reviews advances in understanding plant adaptation to stress, the assembly of molecular and phenotyping tools to support breeding and the development of tolerance through traditional and molecular breeding techniques.

When stresses are applied to saturated soil, deformation will occur as water in voids is squeezed out. Consolidation Analyses of Soils focuses on the consolidation of fully saturated soils. The book follows a classic approach by beginning with one-dimensional constitutive relations of soils and one-dimensional consolidation. It then moves on to analytical solutions to several one-dimensional consolidation problems and one-dimensional finite strain consolidation. The authors also present a finite element method for consolidation analysis of one-dimensional problems, analytical solutions to consolidation of soil with vertical drains, and a finite difference method for consolidation analysis of one-dimensional problems. Simplified methods for consolidation analysis of soils exhibiting creep are introduced and applied to different cases. Three-dimensional consolidation equations and solutions of typical three-dimensional consolidation problems are covered, as well as simplified finite element consolidation analysis of soils with vertical drain and finite element method for three-dimensional consolidation problems. The book is unique in that it covers both classic solutions and state-of-the-art work in consolidation analyses of soils. Authors Jian-Hua Yin is Chair Professor of Soil Mechanics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Guofu Zhu is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Structures and Mechanics at Wuhan University of Technology, China.