A number of excellent textbooks on general ecology are currently available butâ to dateâ none have been dedicated to the study of soil ecology. This is important because the soilâ as the âepidermisâ of our planetâ is the major component of the terrestrial biosphere. In the present ageâ it is difficult to understand how one could be interested in general ecology without having some knowledge of the soil and furtherâ to study the soil without taking into account its biological components and ecological setting. It is this deficiency that the two authorsâ Patrick Lavelle and Alister Spainâ have wished to address in writing their text. A reading of this workâ entitled âSoil Ecologyââ shows it to be very complete and extremely innovative in its conceptual plan. In additionâ it follows straightforwardly through a development which unfolds over four substantial chapters. Firstlyâ the authors consider the soil as a porous and finely divided medium of b- organomineral originâ whose physical structure and organisation foster the development of a multitude of specifically adapted organisms (microbial communitiesâ roots of higher plantsâ macro-invertebrates).
