DOI: 10.1097/01.ss.0000070913.55992.9c
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Issn Print: 0038-075X
Publication Date: 2003/05/01
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Excerpt
This book is a compilation of years of research by the authors on soil liquid phase composition in various ecosystems of Central and Eastern Europe. It begins by describing the various “types” of soil water and the importance of the soil liquid phase in environmental and agricultural research. Since the authors use definitions of the “types” of water that differ somewhat from the usual classifications based on potential or energy status of soil water, a significant part of the first chapter discusses the various definitions of soil water and how these water “types’ influence soil solution composition. The book then goes on to describe the methods of soil liquid phase extraction and ion-specific electrodes as used by the authors in determining the composition of the soil solution.
A point is made early on in the book that since the soil liquid phase composition is likely to be very dynamic in space and time in natural and agricultural ecosystems, that in situ measurements with ion-specific electrodes offer the only real possibility of capturing these dynamics. A further point is made that the dynamics of the liquid phase composition must be known to fully understand the impact of the physical and biological environment on the composition of the liquid phase and the effect of the liquid phase composition on the response of the ecosystem to environmental change and management. Thus, it is proposed that the soil liquid phase should be considered to be an integral part of ecosystem functioning rather than solely a property of the soil.
Most of the data and conclusions presented in this book are based on spatial and temporal measurements of the liquid phase composition in several types of natural and agricultural ecosystems in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Detailed information on the climate, vegetation, and soils of these ecosystems is provided. The primary variables measured for these systems were soil redox potential, pH, calcium activity, potassium activity, and nitrate activity. The authors then go on to present a substantial data set, mostly in tabular form, on the results of these investigations. They compare the differences and similarities in the temporal and spatial behavior for the various ecosystems and show that some of the spatial variability and the diurnal variability are associated with the activities of higher plants and microorganisms. Based on the data from the ecosystems, an attempt is made to interpret the behavior of the ecosystem functioning as linked to the liquid phase composition, primarily soil carbonate equilibrium, soil redox, pH, plant nutrients, and heavy metals.
The last chapter of the book deals with the dynamics of plant productivity, photosynthetic intensity, transpiration, and soil temperature, as related to the dynamics of liquid phase composition. The authors propose that soil redox potential, pH, calcium ion activity, potassium ion activity, and nitrate ion activity may be useful soil ecological indicators of ecosystem functioning. They conclude that understanding the complicated suite of interrelated and interdependent processes in the functioning of ecosystems may be greatly advanced by expanding in situ measurements using ion-specific electrodes.
This book is too specific to be used as a textbook even for a graduate class, but it should be useful as a reference source for soil solution chemists and potentially other researchers interested in the soil liquid phase. Since many of the original journal articles leading to this text were published in Russian, this book opens up a large body of data and analysis to the larger scientific community.
