Approaches to Soil Health Analysis, Volume 1

A concise survey of soil health analysis and its various techniques and applications

The maintenance of healthy soil resources provides the foundation for an array of global efforts and initiatives that affect humanity. Whether they are working to combat food shortages, conserve our ecosystems, or mitigate the impact of climate change, researchers and agriculturalists the world over must be able to correctly examine and understand the complex nature of this essential, fragile resource. These new volumes have been designed to meet this need, addressing the many dimensions of soil health analysis in chapters that are concise, accessible and applicable to the tasks at hand.

Soil Health, Volume One: Approaches to Soil Health Analysis provides a well-rounded overview of the various methods and strategies available to analysists, and covers topics including:

• The history of soil health and its study
• Challenges and opportunities facing analysists
• Meta-data and its assessment
• Applications to forestry and urban land reclamation
• Future soil health monitoring and evaluation approaches

Offering a far-reaching survey of this increasingly interdisciplinary field, this volume will be of great interest to all those working in agriculture, private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic-, state-, and federal-research projects, as well as state and federal soil conservation, water quality and other environmental programs.

Douglas L. Karlen, Retired ST Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS
Doug is internationally recognized for his soil health and sustainable agricultural research and technology transfer program. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), editor/co-editor for seven books, and author or co-author of more than 425 refereed journal, book chapter, and proceedings publications.

Diane E. Stott, Retired Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS-SHD; Professor Emerita, Purdue University
Diane conducted internationally recognized research focused on crop and soil management impacts on soil health, soil organic matter cycling, enzyme activities and soil erodibility and soil health. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and author or co-author of more than 115 refereed journal, book chapter, and proceedings publications.

Maysoon M. Mikha, Research Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS
Maysoon is nationally and internationally recognized for her agronomic research addressing soil quality/health and land sustainability. She received The Conservation Research Award from the SWCS and recognized by the SSSA for her excellent editorial skills. She authored and co- authored more than 100 refereed journals, book chapters, and proceedings.