Measuring and assessing the biological health of soils

Contributions by Professor Rachel Creamer, Professor Stephanie Yarwood, Dr Maddy Giles, Dr Ryan Stewart, Emeritus Professor Paolo Nannipieri, Professor Bruce Hungate, Dr Sarina Claassens, Professor Jan Willem Van Groenigen, Professor Stefaan De Neve, Professor Deborah Neher, Dr Joseph Amsili, Professor Joann Whalen, Dr Marie Sünnemann, Professor Weixin Zhang Edited by Professor Jeanette Norton, Professor Josh Schimel, Professor Zoë Lindo

Publication date:

Q4 2025

Length of book:

400 pages

Publisher

Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing

Dimensions:

229x152mm
6x9"

One of the most important topics in soil science is understanding the relationship between soil biodiversity and soil ecosystem function. This relies on techniques able to accurately identify different soil organisms and how they interact in the soil microbiome.

Measuring and assessing the biological health of soils provides a comprehensive overview of the range of techniques used to assess microbial/faunal diversity activity in soils and its impact on key ecological processes. The book also reviews how biological indicators can be integrated into soil health testing programmes to improve the quality of agricultural, grassland and forest soils.

The book builds on a successful earlier volume published by Burleigh Dodds Science: Advances in measuring soil health (2021).

1.Soil biology, soil health and ecosystem services: an overview: Rachel Creamer, Wageningen University, The Netherlands;

Part 1 Advances in DNA-based methods, biological and other indicators to investigate soil microbial activity

2.Advances in DNA based methods for assessing abundance and diversity and of microbial groups: Stephanie Yarwood, University of Maryland, USA;
3.Advances in quantitative PCR (qPCR) techniques for identifying and studying soil microbial communities: Maddy Giles, James Hutton Institute, UK;
4.Advances in soil respiration techniques as an indicator of soil microbial activity: Ryan Stewart, Virginia Tech, USA;
5.Enzyme assays for measuring soil microbial activity: Paolo Nannipieri, University of Florence, Italy;
6.Advances in stable isotope profiling (SIP) techniques to track plant-microbial interactions: Bruce Hungate, Northern Arizona University, USA;
7.Applications and advances in using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) as biomarkers in analysing soil microbial communities: Sarina Claassens, Curtin University, Australia;

Part 2 Fauna as indicators of soil health

8.Earthworms/macrofauna as indicators of soil health: Jan Willem Van Groenigen, Wageningen University, The Netherlands;
9.Mesofauna as indicators of soil health: Stefaan De Neve, Ghent University, Belgium;
10.Nematodes/microfauna as indicators of soil health: Deborah Neher, University of Vermont, USA;

Part 3 Applications

11.Integrating biological indicators into soil health testing programmes: Joseph Amsili, Cornell University, USA;
12.Using biological indicators of soil health to assess the impact of particular cropping practices: Joann Whalen, McGill University, Canada;
13.Using biological indicators to assess the health of grasslands: Marie Sünnemann, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Germany;
14.Using biological indicators to assess the health of forest soils: Weixin Zhang, Henan University, China;