This edited volume covers all aspects of the latest research in the field of soil formation and its functioning, soil diversity, soil proteomics, the impact of anthropogenic activities on the pedosphere, plant-microbe interactions in the pedosphere, and factors influencing the formation and functioning of the soils. In the pedosphere, all forms of soils possess a particular type of structure and different organic and mineral components. Thus, the pedosphere as a whole plays a significant role in providing unique habitats for a vast diversity of life forms, developing a link between geological and biological substances circulation in the terrestrial ecosystems. In the processes making available vital mineral elements to plants and supporting human health as various trace elements in the lithosphere are accessed by people through the formation of soils and such soils are utilized for food production. With the depth of information on different aspects of soil, this extensive volumeis a valuable resource for the researchers in the area of soil science, agronomy, agriculture, scientists in academia, crop consultants, policymakers, government from diverse disciplines, and graduate and post-graduate students in the area of soil and environmental science.
Bhoopander Giri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany, Swami Shraddhanand College, University of Delhi, Delhi. He has been a recipient of CSIR Research Associateship, DST Young Scientist and Raman Post-Doctoral Fellowships. Dr. Giri has served as a General Secretary for the International Symbiosis Society, USA and post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, USA. He has published more than 40 papers with more than 4970 citations in the journals of high repute. He has edited a few books viz., Root Biology, Biofertilizers for Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, Microorganisms in Saline Environments: Strategies and Functions, Soil Health, Plant Stress Biology: Strategies and Trends all published by Springer.
Rupam Kapoor is Professor in the Department of Botany, University of Delhi, India. She specializes in the field of Plant-fungus interactions (pathogenic as well as symbiotic). Dr. Kapoor has 14 years of experience of supervision of doctoral research and Post-Graduate teaching. She has supervised 12 Ph.D. and 8 M. Phil. students. Prof. Kapoor is on the editorial board of several National and International journals. She has been awarded Young Scientist award by Indian Botanical Society, BOYSCAST fellowship by DST wherein she visited the University of Alabama Huntsville, USA. She has more than 60 publications with more than 6000 citations in international journals of high repute.
Qiang-Sheng Wu is professor at the College of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, and works as an administrative director at the Institute of Root Biology, Yangtze University. He has published two book titled Arbuscular Mycorrhizas and Stress Tolerance of Plants and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Research and Application of Horticultural Plants. He has published more than 60 papers in the international popular journals, Dr. Wu has conducted 10 projects, guided 2 doctors and 18 master’s students, and served as the editor of eight international journals and the member of Citrus Association in Hubei Province, and obtained the Fourth Scopus Young Researcher Award.
Ajit Varma was a Professor at the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Presently, he is the Distinguished Scientist & Professor of Eminence of Amity Institute of Microbial Technology; Group Dy. Vice Chancellor, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation, and Vice Chairman, Amity Science, Technology & Innovation Foundation Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. He has published more than 314 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editor-in-Chief of Soil Biology Series, Springer Verlag Germany. Dr. Varma is the Fellow of Alexander-von-Humboldt Society, Germany, elected Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Fellow of Microbiology Society of India.
