1 Soil as a habitat for organisms. - 1. 1 Introduction. - 1. 2 The soil environment. - 2 Life in the soil. - 2. 1 Introduction. - 2. 2 Microbial biomass. - 2. 3 The soil inhabitants. - 2. 4 Plant roots. - 2. 5 Summary. - 3 Biological processes in soil. - 3. 1 Introduction. - 3. 2 What do organisms require for life?. - 3. 3 Selected biochemical processes. - 3. 4 Soil enzymes. - 3. 5 Sources of substrates for heterotrophs. - 3. 6 Substrate quality. - 3. 7 Microbial biomass and nutrient cycling. - 3. 8 Summary. - 4 Soil formation and development. - 4. 1 Introduction. - 4. 2 Pedogenesis. - 4. 3 Weathering of rock. - 4. 4 Organic matter. - 4. 5 Profile development. - 4. 6 The influence of man. - 5 Environmental issues. - 5. 1 Introduction. - 5. 2 Acidification. - 5. 3 Salinity. - 5. 4 Heavy metals. - 5. 5 Chernobyl and radioactivity. - 5. 6 Nitrate leaching. - 5. 7 Pesticides. - 5. 8 Introduced organisms. - 6 Soil biology into the next millennium. - 6. 1 Introduction. - 6. 2 Sustainability so what's new?. - 6. 3 Environmental quality. - 6. 4 Soils and global climate change. - 6. 5 Biodiversity. - 6. 6 Sustainable agricultural systems. - 6. 7 Man and the Earth. - References and further reading. Language: English