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Book Cover
E-book
Author Nardi, James B., 1948-

Title Life in the soil : a guide for naturalists and gardeners / James B. Nardi
Published Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2007

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xxi, 293 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color)
Contents Acknowledgments -- How to use this book -- Preface -- pt. 1. The marriage of the mineral world and the organic world -- A. Introduction -- B. How soil forms from rocks and weather -- C. Plant roots and their bacterial partners -- D. Plant roots and their fungal partners -- E. Where roots meet rocks and minerals -- F. Plant roots and their animal partners -- 1. Life in a dark and densely populated world -- 2. Soil fertility and the formation of humus -- 3. Importance of nitrogen -- 4. The contribution of animals to soil structure -- 5. Diggers and tillers of the soil -- G. How plants and animals affect the layers of a soil -- pt. 2. Members of the soil community -- A. Microbes -- 1. Eubacteria and archaebacteria -- 2. Actinomycetes -- 3. Algae -- 4. Fungi -- 5. Chytrids, hyphochytrids, oomycetes -- 6. Lichens -- 7. Slime molds -- 8. Protozoa -- Animal kingdom
B. Invertebrates -- animals without backbones -- a. Animals without backbones or jointed legs -- 1. Flatworms -- 2. Roundworms and potworms -- 3. Earthworms -- 4. Land leeches -- 5. Rotifers -- 6. Snails and slugs -- 7. Tardigrades -- 8. Onychophorans -- b. Arthropods other than insects -- 1. Mites and springtails -- 2. Proturans and diplurans -- 3. Myriapods -- 4. Spiders -- 5. Daddy longlegs -- 6. Pseudoscorpions -- 7. True scorpions, windscorpions, whipscorpions and schizomids -- 8. Microwhipscorpions -- 9. Ricinuleids -- 10. Woodlice -- 11. Crayfish -- c. Insects : the most abundant arthropods -- 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 lightningbugs -- 20. Soldier beetles -- 21. Dung beetles -- 22. Carrion beetles, burying beetles, and hister beetles -- 23. Wireworms and click beetles -- 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, crane flies, and soldier 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 and skunks -- 2. Badgers -- 3. Prairie dogs -- 4. Ground squirrels and chipmunks -- 5. Moles -- 6. Shrews -- 7. Pocket gophers -- 8. Kangaroo rats -- pt. 3. 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
Summary 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
Analysis bodembiologie
soil biology
soil bacteria
bodemschimmels
soil fungi
bodemfauna
soil fauna
bodemflora
soil flora
handleidingen
guide books
identificatie
identification
bodemecologie
soil ecology
Soil Biology
Bodembiologie
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-277) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
Print version record
digitized 2011 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject Soil biology.
SCIENCE -- Life Sciences -- Biological Diversity.
Soil biology
Bodenbiologie
Bodentiere
Genre/Form Einführung.
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2006037834
ISBN 9780226568539
0226568539