Interactions in Soil: Promoting Plant Growth

1) John Dighton, Professor, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Station Director of Pinelands Field Station, President of the Soil Ecology Society, USA He is an expert in soil ecology and leads research in the area through the Pinelands Field Station. He has written several articles for good international journals and book chapters (first ones start appearing in the 80s), including for Springer, but also for Elsevier (I would say mostly), Wiley, Cambridge University Press, among others. Some of his papers were very well cited. He is member of the Editorial Board of several international journals such as Mycological Research (Elsevier), Soil Biology and Biochemistry (Elsevier), Bartonia (Philadelphia Botanical Club). He edited a book in 1993 - Fungi in Ecosystem Processes (Mycology Series) - Marcel Dekker Publishers (now part of the Taylor & Francis Group). It is still available through Amazon for 187 USD. There will be a Society meeting in 2013. The proceedings of these meetings are always published by Elsevier. As Dighton is the President of the Society as of January this year, there could be room for some exploring there. 2) Jennifer Adams Krumins, Assistant Professor, Montclair State University, USA Invited by John Dighton for this proposed book. She has published several articles in international journals including Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, and a very highly cited article co- published in Nature Reviews - Microbiology (403 citations since 2006).

• Preface.- 1. Introduction: Soils and Their Promotion of Plant Growth; J. Dighton.- 2. Soils supporting Biodiversity; E. Havlicek, E. Mitchell.- 3. Beneficial Interactions in the Rhizosphere; W. H. G. Hol et al.- 4. Trophic Interactions in Soil that Support Primary Production; J. Krumins.- 5. Soils Suppressing Biodiversity; G. Pérès.- 6. Root Pathogens; A. Termorshuizen.- 7. Non-Trophic Interactions: Allelopathy; P. Pavlović et al.- 8. Viruses in Soil; B. Reavy et al.- 9. Soils Suppressing and Promoting Non-native Plant Invasions; K. Elgersma.- 10. Urban Soils and the Challenge of Restoring Natural Ecosystems; P.A. Hazelton, A. Clements.- 11. Towards a Holistic Approach to Soils and Plant Growth; D. C. Coleman, S. Fu.- Index.

"This timely and high-quality publication contains 11 chapters that focus on the question: What makes for a good soil and what challenges are there for sustaining a soil for optimal plant growth? ... Overall, this is an excellent summary of present understanding, and highlights the need for continued study if the overarching question is ever to be fully answered." (Peter J. Gregory, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 91 (2), June, 2016) "Interactions in Soil, edited by Dighton (Rutgers) and Krumins (Montclair State), is a timely book on an important topic of growing interest to scholars, conservationists, farmers, and all those interested in the role of healthy soils, particularly soil biology, in providing ecosystem services to society. ... it is a useful resource, especially for graduate students and scholars in the field. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty." (W. J. R. Reeve, Choice, Vol. 52 (6), February, 2015)