3rd Edition

Environmental Soil Science

By Kim H. Tan Copyright 2009
    588 Pages 50 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Completely revised and updated, incorporating almost a decade’s worth of developments in this field, Environmental Soil Science, Third Edition, explores the entire reach of the subject, beginning with soil properties and reactions and moving on to their relationship to environmental properties and reactions. Keeping the organization and writing style that made previous editions bestsellers, the author addresses the definitions of environmental science, ecology, and soil science, underscoring their combination into environmental soil science.

    The book highlights the live biological constituents that make up the soil, exploring the changes made by agricultural operations and other human activities that lead to changes in the environment and our natural ecosystem. These include causes, effects, and solutions for acid rain, global warming, and destruction of the ozone layer. The author also provides extensive coverage of soilless agriculture, hydroponics, fish farming, vanishing biodiversity due to the destruction of jungles and the rain forest, and what to do about it.

    New in the Third Edition:

    • Al Gore’s Nobel Prize winning politics on global warming and apocalyptic predictions
    • Biofuel production from agricultural trash and the controversy over using corn for alcohol production
    • Advances in biotechnology and the issues surrounding golden rice, flavr savr tomato, roundup ready plants, and GM crops
    • The effects of agricultural operations and other human activities on changing soil properties and environment
    • Introduction of a new soil group, Paddy soils, a unique man made soil formed by centuries of rice cultivation
    • Blue Revolution and marine biodiversity
    • Use of eutrophication in aquaculture

    Growing ecological awareness has put the spotlight on all environmental disciplines, and environmental soil science is no exception. This has created broader interest in what has traditionally been a fundamental subject. This book tackles matters which must be urgently addressed due to the mounting evidence of climate change.

    SOILS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
     The Birth of Environmental Soil Science
    Concept of Environmental Science
    Concept of Ecology
    Definition and Concept of Soils
    Pedologic Concept of Soils
    Soil Orders
    Relation of Soil Orders with the Environment

    INORGANIC SOIL CONSTITUENTS
    Soil Composition
    Inorganic Constituents
    Mineral Composition
    Primary Minerals
    Weathering of Primary Minerals
    Secondary Minerals

    ORGANIC SOIL CONSTITUENTS
    Soil Organic Matter
    Humus
    Soil Biomass
    Biochemical Reactions of Soil Microorganisms
    Nonhumified Organic Matter
    Humified Organic Matter

    GAS PHASE IN SOILS
    Soil Air
    Soil Aeration
    Soil Air Quality in Agriculture
    Biochemical Effect of Aeration
    Biological Effect of Aeration
    Chemical Effect of Aeration

    LIQUID PHASE
    The Concept of Solutions
    Types of Water in Soil
    The Soil Solution
    Movement of Soil Water
    Water Losses
    Dissolved Solid Substances
    Environmental Issues of Soil Solutes
    Dissolved Gas
    Oxygen Demand

    SOIL PHYSICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT
    Physical Properties
    Particle Size Distribution
    Soil Structure
    Soil Density and Soil Porosity
    Soil Consistence
    Thermal Properties of Soils
    The Issue of Soil Physics in Histosols

    ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLID CONSTITUENTS
    Electrical Charges
    Soil Clays
    Anion Exchange Capacity
    Soil Organic Matter
    Soil Reaction
    The Aesthetic Issue of Induced Micronutrient Toxicity and Deficiency

    SOILS AND CROP PRODUCTION
    Clearing New Lands
    Soil Degradation and the Issue of Retrogression
    Environmental Changes
    The Issue of Biodiversity
    Plantation Agriculture and Agroforestry
    Intensifying Soil Productivity
    Residue-, No-Till and Strip-Till Farming
    Organic Farming
    LISA or Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture

    SOILLESS AGRICULTURE
    Hydroponics
    Hydroponic Cultivation of Algae
    Aeroponics
    Nutrient Film Technique
    Artificial Soil
    Aquaculture
    Aquaculture in the United States
    The Law of the Sea

    BIOTECHNOLOGY IN SOIL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE
    Definitions and Concepts
    Food Biotechnology
    Agricultural Biotechnology
    Tissue Culture
    Environmental Significance of Tissue Cultures
    Soil Biotechnology

    SOIL AND POLLUTION
    Forms of Pollution
    Definition and Concept of Waste
    Agricultural Waste
    Composting and Compost
    Industrial Waste
    Waste from Food Processing Plants
    Municipal Waste
    Detoxification of Waste 
     Soil Remediation
    Environmental Impact of Agricultural and Industrial Waste

    Appendix A: Atomic Weights of the Major Elements in Soils
    Appendix B: International System of Units (SI); Factors for Converting U.S. Units
    into SI Units
    Appendix C: U.S. Weights and Measures
    References and Additional Readings
    Index

    Biography

    Kim H. Tan