Emissions of carbon from fossil fuel combustion, along with a change in land use, has led to the depletion of the soil's organic carbon pool. This creates soil quality problems in tropical and subtropical regions as well as in low input subsistence farming areas, the very ones that are projected to yield the most dramatic population increases in the near future. This text addresses these issues and provides possible solutions to the impending agricultural crisis. The author discusses the effects of climate change on soil quality, world food demands and supply during the 21st century, and...

Studying the impact of the physical and hydrological properties and processes of soil on agricultural production, the environment and sustainable use of natural resources, this detailed reference provides coverage of issues related to soil physics, structure, hydrology, aeration, temperature and analysis.

Addressing a topic of major importance to the maintenance of world food supplies, this reference identifies knowledge gaps, defines priorities, and formulates recommendations for the improvement of the rice-wheat farming system. The book reveals new systems of rice intensification and management and illustrates the application of no-till and conservation farming to the rice-wheat system. With contributions from 65 international experts, and case studies from India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Sustainable Agriculture and the International Rice-Wheat System focuses on seeding equipment and...

Focusing on the technical, social, and economic issues involved in watershed management, the author explores ideas for bettering land-use practices and the condition of soil water resources. The text is based on an international symposium in soil and water conservation, exploring an ecosystem-based management approach to the problem. Inattention to the issues of continued land and water degradation stresses human populations This volume seeks positive results through better understanding of the issues and improved management approaches.

World soils contain about 1500 gigatons of organic carbon. This large carbon reserve can increase atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by soil misuse or mismanagement, or it can reverse the 'greenhouse' effect by judicious land use and proper soil management.
Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle describes soil processes and their effects on the global carbon cycle while relating soil properties to soil quality and potential and actual carbon reserves in the soil. In addition, this book deals with modeling the carbon cycle in soil, and with methods of soil carbon determinations.

The experiments and experiences discussed in Soil Management carefully document crop production systems with well-defined boundaries. These long-term agronomic trials provide a valuable data resource that has, until now, been largely ignored by both the research community and the sustainability experts. With a rigorous definition of sustainability and this data, the sustainability of various cropping systems will be more clearly illustrated than any previous effort. Particular emphasis is given to research involving the tropics and sub-tropics.
This book is unique in providing an...

The pedosphere - the thin mantel of soil on the earth's surface - plays a potentially crucial role in climate and climate change . The carbon storage of soils is the second largest in the biosphere, making the dynamics of soil organic carbon an important issue that must be understood if we are to fully comprehend global change.
This new book examines the importance of soils and their relationship to global change, specifically to the greenhouse effect. Soils and Global Change presents a state-of-the-art compendium of our present knowledge of soils. This up-to-date information source...

Global Climate Change and Cold Regions Ecosystems provides information on soil processes and the carbon cycle in cold ecoregions as well as the soil carbon pool and its fluxes in the soils of cold ecoregions. F illing a void in this area of soil science, this resource explains soi l processes influencing C dynamics under natural and disturbed ecosyst ems. The soils of the cold region ecosystems serve as a net sink of at mospheric C. However, an increase in global temperature could render t hem a net source. In the event of global warming, the cold regions eco systems-arctic, sub-arctic,...

In Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon, leading researchers show how to measure, monitor, and verify changes to soil carbon. The book establi shes the need for standardized methods that can be used by anyone, and helps us better understand the link between the pedosphere (soils) an d the atmosphere. It also shows the importance of developing links bet ween the economics of carbon sequestration and the amounts sequestered, and highlights the need for scientists and policy makers to interact to ensure that policies fit within the scope of present technologies.

Tropical ecosystems - the regions between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn - play an important role in global processes, economic issues, and political concerns. In their natural state, tropical ecosystems support a large quantity of above- and below-ground biomass, and constitute a major part of the terrestrial carbon pool. Conversion of the natural ecosystem to agriculture and forestry ecosystems disturbs this ecological balance.
Global Climate Change and Tropical Ecosystems presents data on carbon pool fluxes from case studies in 12 countries in tropical regions. The chapters cover:...