Rattan Lal

“Principles of Soil Management and Conservation” comprehensively reviews the state-of-knowledge on soil erosion and management. It discusses in detail soil conservation topics in relation to soil productivity, environment quality, and agronomic production. It addresses the implications of soil erosion with emphasis on global hotspots and synthesizes available from developed and developing countries. It also critically reviews information on no-till management, organic farming, crop residue management for industrial uses, conservation buffers (e.g., grass buffers, agroforestry systems), and the problem of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and in other regions. This book uniquely addresses the global issues including carbon sequestration, net emissions of CO2, and erosion as a sink or source of C under different scenarios of soil management. It also deliberates the implications of the projected global warming on soil erosion and vice versa. The concern about global food security in relation to soil erosion and strategies for confronting the remaining problems in soil management and conservation are specifically addressed. This volume is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in understanding the principles of soil conservation and management. The book is also useful for practitioners, extension agents, soil conservationists, and policymakers as an important reference material.

Carbon Sequestration in Forest Ecosystems is a comprehensive book describing the basic processes of carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems, their contribution to carbon sequestration and implications for mitigating abrupt climate change. This book provides the information on processes, factors and causes influencing carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. Drawing upon most up-to-date references, this book summarizes the current understanding of carbon sequestration processes in forest ecosystems while identifying knowledge gaps for future research, Thus, this book is a valuable knowledge source for students, scientists, forest managers and policy makers.

“Principles of Soil Management and Conservation” comprehensively reviews the state-of-knowledge on soil erosion and management. It discusses in detail soil conservation topics in relation to soil productivity, environment quality, and agronomic production. It addresses the implications of soil erosion with emphasis on global hotspots and synthesizes available from developed and developing countries. It also critically reviews information on no-till management, organic farming, crop residue management for industrial uses, conservation buffers (e.g., grass buffers, agroforestry systems), and the problem of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and in other regions. This book uniquely addresses the global issues including carbon sequestration, net emissions of CO2, and erosion as a sink or source of C under different scenarios of soil management. It also deliberates the implications of the projected global warming on soil erosion and vice versa. The concern about global food security in relation to soil erosion and strategies for confronting the remaining problems in soil management and conservation are specifically addressed. This volume is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in understanding the principles of soil conservation and management. The book is also useful for practitioners, extension agents, soil conservationists, and policymakers as an important reference material.

Principles of Soil Physics examines the impact of the physical, mechanical, and hydrological properties and processes of soil on agricultural production, the environment, and sustainable use of natural resources. The text incorporates valuable assessment methods, graphs, problem sets, and tables from recent studies performed around the globe and offers an abundance of tables, photographs, and easy-to-follow equations in every chapter. The book discusses the consequences of soil degradation, such as erosion, inhibited root development, and poor aeration. It begins by defining soil physics, soil mechanics, textural properties, and packing arrangements . The text continues to discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of soil structure and explain the significance and measurement of bulk density, porosity, and compaction. The authors proceed to clarify soil hydrology topics including hydrologic cycle, water movement, infiltration, modeling, soil evaporation, and solute transport processes. They address the impact of soil temperature on crop growth, soil aeration, and the processes that lead to the emission of greenhouse gases. The final chapters examine the physical properties of gravelly soils and water movement in frozen, saline, and water-repellant soils. Reader-friendly and up-to-date, Principles of Soil Physics provides unparalleled coverage of issues related to soil physics, structure, hydrology, aeration, temperature, and analysis and presents practical techniques for maintaining soil quality to ultimately preserve its sustainability.

Soil Degradation in the United States: Extent, Severity, and Trends examines the magnitude and severity of soil degradation by different processes in the U. S., including water erosion, wind erosion, C depletion, soil compaction, salt build-up, and soil contamination. In addition, it addresses policy issues with regard to economic and environmental impact, land use change, and global trends. It covers past trends and future projections regarding soil degradation. The book provides a ready reference and data source for soil scientists and researchers, agronomists, environmentalists, land use planners, land managers, and policy makers.

Soil degradation has serious global impacts on agronomic, economic, and sociopolitical conditions, however, statistics regarding the degree of these impacts has been largely unreliable. This book aims to standardize the methodology for obtaining reliable and objective data on soil degradation. It will also identify and develop criteria for assessing the severity of soil degradation, providing a realistic scenario of the problem.