The Rhizosphere,
Edition 1 An Ecological Perspective
Edited by Zoe G. Cardon and Julie Lynn Whitbeck

Publication Date: 15 Mar 2007
Description
Below the soil surface, the rhizosphere is the dynamic interface among plant roots, soil microbes and fauna, and the soil itself, where biological as well as physico-chemical properties differ radically from those of bulk soil. The Rhizosphere is the first ecologically-focused book that explicitly establishes the links from extraordinarily small-scale processes in the rhizosphere to larger-scale belowground patterns and processes. This book includes chapters that emphasize the effects of rhizosphere biology on long-term soil development, agro-ecosystem management and responses of ecosystems to global change. Overall, the volume seeks to spur development of cross-scale links for understanding belowground function in varied natural and managed ecosystems.

Key Features

  • First cross-scale ecologically-focused integration of information at the frontier of root, microbial, and soil faunal biology
  • Establishes the links from extraordinarily small-scale processes in the rhizosphere to larger-scale belowground patterns and processes
  • Includes valuable information on ecosystem response to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and enhanced global nitrogen deposition
  • Chapters written by a variety of experts, including soil scientists, microbial and soil faunal ecologists, and plant biologists
About the author
Edited by Zoe G. Cardon, University of Connecticut, Storrs, U.S.A. and Julie Lynn Whitbeck, University of New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Table of Contents
  • LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Root Interactions with Soil Microbial Communities and Processes
    • Publisher Summary
    • 1.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 1.2 THE COMPOSITION OF RHIZOSPHERE MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES
    • 1.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF RHIZOSPHERE SOIL THAT IMPACT MICROBIAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION
    • 1.4 IMPORTANCE OF RHIZOSPHERE MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AT LARGER SCALES
    • 1.5 CLOSING OBSERVATIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 2: Carbon Fluxes in the Rhizosphere
    • Publisher Summary
    • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 2.2 QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF RHIZODEPOSITS
    • 2.3 RHIZOSPHERE CARBON FLUXES UNDER ELEVATED CO2
    • 2.4 FUNCTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
    • 2.5 MICROBIAL ASSIMILATION EFFICIENCY OF RHIZODEPOSITS
    • 2.6 TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF EXUDATION AND RESPIRATION
    • 2.7 METHODS FOR STUDYING RHIZOSPHERE CARBON FLUXES
    • 2.8 PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 3: Microfaunal Interactions in the Rhizosphere, How Nematodes and Protozoa Link Above- and Belowground Processes
    • Publisher Summary
    • 3.1 THE PLANT AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN ABOVE-AND BELOWGROUND POPULATIONS AND PROCESSES
    • 3.2 RHIZOSPHERE MICROFAUNA – DIRECT EFFECTS ON CARBON AND NITROGEN FLOWS
    • 3.3 RHIZOSPHERE MICROFAUNA – INDIRECT EFFECTS ON PLANT GROWTH
    • 3.4 RHIZOSPHERE MICROFAUNA – INTERACTIONS WITH MYCORRHIZAL AND OTHER SYMBIONTS
    • 3.5 PLANT RESPONSE TO ABOVE-AND BELOWGROUND HERBIVORY
    • 3.6 CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 4: Mycorrhizas: Symbiotic Mediators of Rhizosphere and Ecosystem Processes
    • Publisher Summary
    • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 4.2 CONVERGENT EVOLUTION OF MYCORRHIZAS
    • 4.3 MYCORRHIZAS AS NUTRITIONAL MUTUALISMS
    • 4.4 COMMUNITY INTERACTIONS
    • 4.5 ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
    • 4.6 MYCORRHIZAL FUNCTION IN A CHANGING WORLD
    • 4.7 DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 5: Soil Rhizosphere Food Webs, Their Stability, and Implications for Soil Processes in Ecosystems
    • Publisher Summary
    • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 5.2 THE STRATEGY UNDERLYING MATHEMATICALLY CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF RHIZOSPHERE FUNCTION
    • 5.3 RESOURCE FLOW IN THE RHIZOSPHERE
    • 5.4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 6: Understanding and Managing the Rhizosphere in Agroecosystems
    • Publisher Summary
    • 6.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 6.2 INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE: DELIBERATE AND INADVERTENT CONSEQUENCES FOR THE RHIZOSPHERE
    • 6.3 RHIZOSPHERE PROCESSES AND AGROECOSYSTEM FUNCTION
    • 6.4 THE FUTURE OF THE RHIZOSPHERE IN ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE
    • CONCLUSIONS
  • Chapter 7: The Contribution of Root – Rhizosphere Interactions to Biogeochemical Cycles in a Changing World
    • Publisher Summary
    • 7.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 7.2 A CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW OF RHIZOSPHERE PROCESSES IN BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
    • 7.3 EXAMPLES OF ECOSYSTEM FEEDBACK
    • 7.4 SUMMARY: CASCADING CONSEQUENCES OF ALTERED PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Chapter 8: The Rhizosphere and Soil Formation
    • Publisher Summary
    • 8.1 INTRODUCTION
    • 8.2 A REVIEW OF CONCEPTS
    • 8.3 RHIZOSPHERES: WHERE ECOSYSTEMS CONCENTRATE BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS WITH SOIL MINERALS
    • 8.4 OVERVIEW OF THE RHIZOSPHERE’S WEATHERING ATTACK
    • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Index
Book details
ISBN: 9780120887750
Page Count: 232
Retail Price : £52.99
Coleman/Crossley/Hendrix: FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL ECOLOGY, 2nd edition, Elsevier/Academic Press (Jul 2004, Paperback, 408 pp, ISBN 0121797260, $49.95/£23.99)

Pinto/Varanini/Nannipieri: THE RHIZOSPHERE: BIOCHEMISTRY AND ORGANIC SUBSTANCES AT THE SOIL-PLANT INTERFACE, Marcel Dekker (Feb 2001, Hardcover, 424 pp, ISBN 0824704274, $179.95/£100.00)

Gobran/Wenzel/Lombi: TRACE ELEMENTS IN THE RHIZOSPHERE, CRC Press (Sept 2000, Hardcover, 344 pp, ISBN 0849315352, $169.95/£97.00)

Tinker/Nye: SOLUTE MOVEMENT IN THE RHIZOSPHERE 2nd edition, Oxford University Press (Feb 2000, Hardcover, ISBN 0195124928, $54.50/£32.99)
Audience
Scientists, professionals, students and researchers in agriculture, silviculture, phytoremediation, bioremediation, and plant mineral nutrition, as well as general ecosystem ecologists. Members of organizations such as Soil Science Society of America, the Physiological Ecology and Soil Ecology sections of the Ecological Society of America, and the Soil Ecology Society.