Publisher's Synopsis
A single-source reference to biochemical cycles in soil, highlighting basic principles and naturally occurring reactions. The book discusses all major aspects of nutrient cycling, including fluxes with other ecosystems, biochemical pathways and transformations, gains and losses, chemical fixation reactions and plant availability. Environmental issues are integrated into the classical treatment of cycling processes and two chapters are devoted exclusively to pollution of the environment. Surveyed in the book are such topics as management of crop residues and maintenance of soil organic matter, use of soil for disposal of organic wastes, biological nitrogen fixation, denitrification, efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen use by plants, nitrates in food and water, chemistry and fate of phosphorus and sulfur and behavior of trace elements.
