Assessing soil quality is important for anyone working with soil regardless of whether they are the farmer, consultant, land owner or researcher and this book claims early on to be aimed at all of these people. So does it succeed in doing this?
Well first up, this paperback release follows the hardback, published in 2006 at a cost of £65, so this more affordable version is likely to widen its appeal. As for the book itself, the early chapters certainly provide sufficient background information that, without being too detailed, delivers a good concept of the thinking behind the methodologies proposed later and the reasons for their consideration. There is also throughout these chapters sufficient reiteration that the reader becomes very aware that no one method currently works as an indicator in a stand alone capacity. If there was to be one criticism of these earlier chapters it might be that there are not sufficient details provided for the more advanced reader in this field, but inclusion of these might have easily alienated much of the wider reader appeal that this book definitely has.
Chapters 6–9 provide the current and established microbiological methodologies grouped together according to the information they provide on: soil microbial biomass and number, soil microbial activity, soil microbial diversity and community structure and plant–microbe interactions. These chapters are very well presented. There is a further general introduction, prior to the methods themselves, allowing each chapter to easily stand alone for readers searching for a quick guide to suitable methodologies. The methods are then presented very clearly with each including another introduction, details of the principals, materials, apparatus, chemicals, procedure and analysis.
The final chapter is a summary of an on-line survey conducted under the COST action 831 and only really serves to back up the selection of the presented methods and some advice on how to run surveys in the future.
This book, in focusing on just the microbial aspects of soil quality, has not limited its potential readership and presents a very good introductory and reference work for anyone with an interest in this area of research. With the current state of advances in soil microbiological methods and legislation regarding soil quality monitoring and maintenance it is likely that in time a new edition might be in order, but for now I will be recommending this book to my students and requesting that the library orders a copy. Can't say fairer than that.
