Life in the Soil
A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners
Leonardo da Vinci once mused that “we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot,” an observation that is as apt today as it was five hundred years ago. The biological world under our toes is often unexplored and unappreciated, yet it teems with life. In one square meter of earth, there lives trillions of bacteria, millions of nematodes, hundreds of thousands of mites, thousands of insects and worms, and hundreds of snails and slugs. But because of their location and size, many of these creatures are as unfamiliar and bizarre to us as anything found at the bottom of the ocean.
Lavishly illustrated with nearly three hundred color illustrations and masterfully-rendered black and white drawings throughout, Life in the Soil invites naturalists and gardeners alike to dig in and discover the diverse community of creatures living in the dirt below us. Biologist and acclaimed natural history artist James B. Nardi begins with an introduction to soil ecosystems, revealing the unseen labors of underground organisms maintaining the rich fertility of the earth as they recycle nutrients between the living and mineral worlds. He then introduces readers to a dazzling array of creatures: wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with 120 rows of teeth, and 10,000-year-old fungi, among others. Organized by taxon, Life in the Soil covers everything from slime molds and roundworms to woodlice and dung beetles, as well as vertebrates from salamanders to shrews. The book ultimately explores the crucial role of soil ecosystems in conserving the worlds above and below ground.
A unique and illustrative introduction to the many unheralded creatures that inhabit our soils and shape our environment aboveground, Life in the Soil will inform and enrich the naturalist in all of us.
Choice Magazine: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Awards
Won
“James Nardi’s Life in the Soil is a very worthy and meaningful introduction to the soil biota and their unique ecosystem.Coverage of the living forms is comprehensive, with fine graphics showing the diversity of major taxa that inhabit soils. These illustrations provide a good basis for the in-depth understanding needed if one wishes to use more advanced, complex identification keys to study any living soil groups in more detail. In addition to basic identification values for naturalists and gardeners, teachers at all grade levels also should find this an invaluable resource book for surveying field collections of soil creatures and their ecology. Furthermore, naturalists as well as educators and their students will benefit from the descriptions and illustrations of collection and observation chambers that can be used for live animals to initiate research such as population, behavioral or life history studies. Finally, the techniques for composting provide important information on the functional roles of the decomposer microcommunities of soil biota in the actual compost production. Composting presented here as a partnership between soil organisms and humans provides a vital message regarding waste reduction and recycling. Those who are environmentally inclined should read this book to acquire an understanding of our terrestrial ecosystem and the well being of the soils of the earth.”
“This is the book I've been waiting for! Life in the Soil is a clear, definitive guide to the fascinating underground world. James Nardi champions dung beetles and cockroaches alike; he celebrates the intricate relationships between plant roots and microscopic fungi; and he sheds light on the complexities in a pile of rotting leaves. Any gardener who has ever wondered about the mysterious creatures that turn up in a shovelful of dirt should have a copy of this book.”
“Nardi takes us deep into the engine room of soil production, exploring and describing the myriad organisms—amoebae, fungi, bacteria, arthropods, etc—that dwell there. A strange, revealing and captivating book.”
"If the earth moves you, then this is where you'll get all the best dirt on what lives, what dies and how everything in the soil is connected by an ever-expanding web of life. This is a book that can be read by naturalists and gardeners like a novel as the drama of the soil is churned forth, plowed through and dug into. You'll learn about wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with 120 rows of teeth, and lime molds, mites and roundworms in such a manner that they become allies in the fight to keep our earth and our soil healthy. This is a unique book written by a biologist who makes the case that life itself depends on how well we treat all those millions of creatures right under our soles."
How to Use This Book
Preface
PART ONE. THE MARRIAGE OF THE MINERAL WORLD AND THE ORGANIC WORLD
A. Introduction
B. How Soil Forms Rocks and Weather
C. Plant Roots and Their Bacterial Partners
D. Plant Roots and Their Bacterial Partners
E. Where Roots Meet Rocks and Minerals
F. Plant Roots and Their Animal Partners
1. Life in a Dark Densely Populated World
2. Soil Fertility and the Formation of Humus
3. The Importance of Nitrogen
4. The Contribution of Animals to Soil Structure
5. Diggers and Thrillers of Soil
G. How Plants and Animals Affect the Layers of a Soil
PART TWO. MEMBERS OF THE SOIL COMMUNITY
A. Microbes
1. Eubacteria and Archaebacteria
2. Actinomycetes
3. Algae
4. Fungi
5. Chytrids, Hyphochitrids, Oomycetes
6. Lichens
7. Slime Molds
8. Protozoa
Animal Kingdom
B. Invertebrates
a. Animals Without Backbones of Jointed Legs
1. Flatworms
2. Roundworms and Potworms
3. Earthworms
4. Land Leeches
5. Rotifers
6. Snails and Slugs
7. Tardigrades
8. Onychophrans
b. Arthropods Other Than Insects
1. Mites and Springtails
2. Proturans and Diplurans
3. Myriapods
4. Spiders
5. Daddy Longlegs
6. Psuedoscorpions
7. True Scorpions, Windscorpions, Whipscorpions, and Schizomids
8. Microwhipscorpions
9. Ricinuleids
10. Woodlice
11. Crayfish
c. Insects
1. Jumping Bristletails and Silverfish
2. Earwigs
3. Cockroaches
4. Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets
5. Short-horned Grasshoppers
6. Termites
7. Thrips
8. Big-eyed Bugs and Burrower Bugs
9. Aphids, Phylloxerans, and Coccoids
10. Cicadas and Rhipicerid Beetles
11. Rove Beetles and Ground Beetles
12. Tiger Beetles
13. Short-winged Mold Beetles
14. Featherwing Beetles
15. Sap Beetles
16. Antlike Stone Beetles
17. Minute Fungus Beetles
18. Ptilodactylid Beetles
19. Glowworms, Fireflies, and Lighteningbugs
20. Soldier Beetles
21. Dung Beetles
22. Carrion Beetles, Burying Beetles, and Hister Beetles
23. Wireworms and Clickbeetles
24. Beetles of Rotten Logs
25. Scarabs, Weevils, and Their Grubs
26. Variegated Mud-loving Beetles
27. Fungus Beetles
28. Scorpionflies
29. Antlions
30. Caterpillars and Moths
31. March Flies
32. Midges and Biting Midges
33. Moth Flies
34. Snipe Flies
35. Robber flies
36. Bee Flies
37. Long-legged Flies
38. Picture-winged Flies
39. Root-maggot Flies
40. Gall Wasps
41. Parasitic Wasps
42. Digger Bees and Velvet Ants
43. Digger Wasps
44. Ants
C. Vertebrates
a. Vertebrates Other Than Mammals
1. Salamanders
2. Toads
3. Caecilians
4. Lizards
5. Snakes
6. Turtles and Tortoises
7. Birds
b. Mammals
1. Woodchucks
2. Badgers
3. Prairie Dogs
4. Ground Squirrels
5. Moles
6. Shrews
7. Pocket Gophers
8. Kangaroo Rats
PART THREE. WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CREATURES OF THE SOIL
1. Preventing Erosion
2. Avoiding Excessive Use of Fertilizers
3. Effects of Acid Rain
4. Avoiding salt-Encrusted Soils
5. Maintaining Soil Structure
6. Discouraging Invasion of Soils by Exotic Species
7. Composting as an Antidote to Soil Abuse
Collecting and Observing Life of the Soil
Glossary
Further Reading
Index
Biological Sciences: Botany | Ecology | Natural History
Earth Sciences: General Earth Sciences
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