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Abstract
Soil organisms have become a focus of attention for addressing issues of soil quality and health, and ecosystem sustainability. Land managers are challenged to ensure that their actions are beneficial to belowground organisms and processes in the long term. Research about soil organisms, their populations, roles, and management effects is fragmented and often esoteric. The diversity of soil organisms is tremendous. The principal organisms include bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, arthropods, nematodes, worms, insects, and mammals. In order to provide a "state-of-the-science" about soil organisms related to management, a symposium was convened to address soil organism functions and processes and management effects on soil organisms and processes and to describe some roles of soil organisms in restoration and applications for land management. The focus of the symposium was Pacific Northwest forest and rangeland ecosystems.
Keywords
Soil organisms,
soil quality,
nutrient cycling,
nitrogen transformations,
foodwebs,
ecosystem integrity,
soil resilience,
ecosystem resilience,
bacteria,
fungi,
arthropods,
root diseases,
soil crusts,
disturbance,
interactions
Citation
Meurisse, Robert T.; Ypsilantis, William G.; Seybold, Cathy, tech. eds. 1999. Proceedings: Pacific Northwest forest and rangeland soil organism symposium; 1998 March 17-19; Corvallis, OR. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-461. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 215 p
