456 Pages 74 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Since the publication of the highly-successful first edition of Earthworm Ecology, there were two international symposia and an increased number of publications on the subject, demanding a revision of the book that addresses the most rapidly developing areas of earthworm research.

    Earthworm Ecology, Second Edition updates the most comprehensive work available on earthworm ecology with extensive revisions of the original chapters. This well-illustrated, expansive study examines the important, and often overlooked, impact earthworms have on the environment. It discusses the impact of climate, soil properties, predation, disease and parasitism, and competition upon earthworm ecology.

    New chapters analyze the history of earthworm research, the importance of earthworms as representatives of soil fauna and how they affect plant growth, the effects of the invasion of exotic earthworms into North America and other regions, and vermiculture and vermicomposting in Europe and Asia. This new material makes this volume an essential reference work for soil scientists, agronomists, and others with a great interest in earthworms.

    INTRODUCTION
    The Importance of Earthworms as Key Representatives of the
    Soil Fauna
    Clive A. Edwards

    How Earthworms Affect Plant Growth: Burrowing into the Mechanisms
    George G. Brown, Clive A. Edwards, and Lijbert Brussaard

    EARTHWORM TAXONOMY, DIVERSITY, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
    Planetary Processes and Their Interactions with Earthworm Distributions and Ecology
    Samuel W. James

    The Status of Earthworm Biogeography, Diversity, and Taxonomy in North America Revisited with Glimpses into the Future
    John W. Reynolds

    Invasion of Exotic Earthworms into North America and Other Regions
    Samuel W. James and Paul F. Hendrix

    EARTHWORM BIOLOGY, ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND PHYSIOLOGY
    Factors Affecting the Abundance of Earthworms in Soils
    Jim P. Curry

    A Comprehensive Study of the Taxonomy and Ecology of the Lumbricid Earthworm Genus Octodrilus from the Carpathians
    Victor V. Pop and Adriana Antonia Pop

    INFLUENCE OF EARTHWORMS ON SOIL ORGANIC MATTER DYNAMICS, NUTRIENT DYNAMICS,
    AND MICROBIAL ECOLOGY
    Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organic Matter and Nutrient Dynamics at a Landscape Scale over Decades
    Patrick Lavelle, Beto Pashanasi, Fabienne Charpentier, Cécile Gilot, Jean-Pierre Rossi, Laurent Derouard, Jean Andre, Jean-François Ponge, and Nicolas Bernier

    Integrating the Effects of Earthworms on Nutrient Cycling across
    Spatial and Temporal Scales
    Patrick J. Bohlen, Robert W. Parmelee, and John M. Blair

    EFFECTS OF EARTHWORMS ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND FUNCTION
    Quantifying the Effects of Earthworms on Soil Aggregation
    and Porosity
    Martin J. Shipitalo and Renee-Claire Le Bayon

    Effects of Earthworms on Soil Organization
    André Kretzschmar

    INTERACTIONS OF EARTHWORMS WITH MICROORGANISMS, INVERTEBRATES, AND PLANTS
    Functional Interactions between Earthworms, Microorganisms,
    Organic Matter, and Plants
    George G. Brown and Bernard M. Doube

    Impacts of Earthworms on Other Biota in Forest Soils, with Some
    Emphasis on Cool Temperate Montane Forests
    Dennis Parkinson, Mary Ann McLean, and Stefan Scheu

    EARTHWORMS IN AGROECOSYSTEMS
    Managing Earthworms as a Resource in Australian Pastures
    Geoff H. Baker

    Earthworms in Agroecosystems: Research Approaches
    Paul F. Hendrix and Clive A. Edwards

    EARTHWORMS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
    Earthworms as Test Organisms in Ecotoxicological Assessment of
    Toxicant Impacts on Ecosystems
    Adriaan J. Reinecke and S.A. Reinecke

    Earthworms in Environmental Research
    Herman Eijsackers

    EARTHWORMS IN WASTE MANAGEMENT
    The Use of Earthworms in the Breakdown of Organic Wastes to
    Produce Vermicomposts and Animal Feed Protein
    Clive A. Edwards and Norman Q. Arancon

    The Use of Earthworms: Nature's Gift for Utilization of
    Organic Wastes in Asia
    Radha D. Kale

    State of the Art and New Perspectives on Vermicomposting Research
    Jorge Domínguez

    Biography

    Clive A. Edwards

    "The revisions not only provide readers with a wealth of information, but also present the historical context, which draws together the individual review papers. The book will leave little doubt as to the importance of earthworms in the functioning of ecosystems and their potential in the applied, cross-disciplinary fields of research."
    -Chris Lowe, The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 2006

    Praise for the First Edition:
    "This book, and the authors that have contributed individual chapters, go a long way toward providing some of the basic science needed…valuable to farmers and researchers…in ecotoxicological evaluations."
    IPM Practitioner

    "Each paper is original, well written, often illustrated with tables/graphs/figures, and contains a comprehensive and valuable list of references for the serious researcher. Highly recommended…"
    P.E. Lutz, in CHOICE

    "A welcome addition…provide[s] new perspectives and insights…offer[s] up-to-date information and hypotheses on a wide variety of topics… very informative, offering well-written syntheses of contemporary issues…"
    -Soil Science, Vol. 170, No. 3, March 2005

    "An excellent review of the current state of knowledge of the variety of ways in which earthworms have an impact on and respond to their environment. …The editor and publisher are to be congratulated on producing such a useful synthesis. The quality of production is good and there is a comprehensive index. The book will be of value to researchers in soil science, and a useful text for undergraduate and post-graduate students."
    European Journal of Soil Science, 2006