Leonardo da Vinci once mused that “we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot,” an observation that is as apt today as it was five hundred years ago. The biological world under our toes is often unexplored and unappreciated, yet it teems with life. In one square meter of earth, there lives trillions of bacteria, millions of nematodes, hundreds of thousands of mites, thousands of insects and worms, and hundreds of snails and slugs. But because of their location and size, many of these creatures are as unfamiliar and bizarre to us as anything found at the bottom of the ocean.
Lavishly illustrated with nearly three hundred color illustrations and masterfully-rendered black and white drawings throughout, Life in the Soil invites naturalists and gardeners alike to dig in and discover the diverse community of creatures living in the dirt below us. Biologist and acclaimed natural history artist James B. Nardibegins with an introduction to soil ecosystems, revealing the unseen labors of underground organisms maintaining the rich fertility of the earth as they recycle nutrients between the living and mineral worlds. He then introduces readers to a dazzling array of creatures: wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with 120 rows of teeth, and 10,000-year-old fungi, among others. Organized by taxon, Life in the Soil covers everything from slime molds and roundworms to woodlice and dung beetles, as well as vertebrates from salamanders to shrews. The book ultimately explores the crucial role of soil ecosystems in conserving the worlds above and below ground.
A unique and illustrative introduction to the many unheralded creatures that inhabit our soils and shape our environment aboveground, Life in the Soil will inform and enrich the naturalist in all of us.
James B. Nardi is a biologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois Natural History Survey who gardens with the help of innumerable soil creatures.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements How to Use This Book Preface
PART ONE. THE MARRIAGE OF THE MINERAL WORLD AND THE ORGANIC WORLD
A. Introduction B. How Soil Forms Rocks and Weather C. Plant Roots and Their Bacterial Partners D. Plant Roots and Their Bacterial Partners E. Where Roots Meet Rocks and Minerals F. Plant Roots and Their Animal Partners 1. Life in a Dark Densely Populated World 2. Soil Fertility and the Formation of Humus 3. The Importance of Nitrogen 4. The Contribution of Animals to Soil Structure 5. Diggers and Thrillers of Soil G. How Plants and Animals Affect the Layers of a Soil
Animal Kingdom B. Invertebrates a. Animals Without Backbones of Jointed Legs 1. Flatworms 2. Roundworms and Potworms 3. Earthworms 4. Land Leeches 5. Rotifers 6. Snails and Slugs 7. Tardigrades 8. Onychophrans b. Arthropods Other Than Insects 1. Mites and Springtails 2. Proturans and Diplurans 3. Myriapods 4. Spiders 5. Daddy Longlegs 6. Psuedoscorpions 7. True Scorpions, Windscorpions, Whipscorpions, and Schizomids 8. Microwhipscorpions 9. Ricinuleids 10. Woodlice 11. Crayfish c. Insects 1. Jumping Bristletails and Silverfish 2. Earwigs 3. Cockroaches 4. Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets 5. Short-horned Grasshoppers 6. Termites 7. Thrips 8. Big-eyed Bugs and Burrower Bugs 9. Aphids, Phylloxerans, and Coccoids 10. Cicadas and Rhipicerid Beetles 11. Rove Beetles and Ground Beetles 12. Tiger Beetles 13. Short-winged Mold Beetles 14. Featherwing Beetles 15. Sap Beetles 16. Antlike Stone Beetles 17. Minute Fungus Beetles 18. Ptilodactylid Beetles 19. Glowworms, Fireflies, and Lighteningbugs 20. Soldier Beetles 21. Dung Beetles 22. Carrion Beetles, Burying Beetles, and Hister Beetles 23. Wireworms and Clickbeetles 24. Beetles of Rotten Logs 25. Scarabs, Weevils, and Their Grubs 26. Variegated Mud-loving Beetles 27. Fungus Beetles 28. Scorpionflies 29. Antlions 30. Caterpillars and Moths 31. March Flies 32. Midges and Biting Midges 33. Moth Flies 34. Snipe Flies 35. Robber flies 36. Bee Flies 37. Long-legged Flies 38. Picture-winged Flies 39. Root-maggot Flies 40. Gall Wasps 41. Parasitic Wasps 42. Digger Bees and Velvet Ants 43. Digger Wasps 44. Ants C. Vertebrates a. Vertebrates Other Than Mammals 1. Salamanders 2. Toads 3. Caecilians 4. Lizards 5. Snakes 6. Turtles and Tortoises 7. Birds b. Mammals 1. Woodchucks 2. Badgers 3. Prairie Dogs 4. Ground Squirrels 5. Moles 6. Shrews 7. Pocket Gophers 8. Kangaroo Rats
PART THREE. WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CREATURES OF THE SOIL
1. Preventing Erosion 2. Avoiding Excessive Use of Fertilizers 3. Effects of Acid Rain 4. Avoiding salt-Encrusted Soils 5. Maintaining Soil Structure 6. Discouraging Invasion of Soils by Exotic Species 7. Composting as an Antidote to Soil Abuse
Collecting and Observing Life of the Soil Glossary Further Reading Index
