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.
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- Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners
- Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, Nardi
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More importantly, Nardi describes how each creature fits into the soil community. After a brief section on promoting healthy soils, Nardi gives some tips on how to observe and collect soil inhabitants. I'm looking forward to trying some of his suggestions Highly recommended for anyone interested in what lives in the soil. Of course you may get some weird looks from people who don't share an interest in the creepy-crawlies that live in the dirt.
Apr 09, Anna rated it it was amazing Shelves: Life in the Soil is an excellent book if you're interested in how soil forms and how living things in the soil especially invertebrates influence that soil. The illustrations are beautiful, and it's a handy field guide to the major types of animals you'll find in the soil as well. Read my summary of the best bits here. May 19, Jelehla Ziemba rated it it was amazing. Oct 21, Christian rated it really liked it Shelves: Dec 17, Michael Blackmore rated it really liked it Shelves: Liked it the sense of learning it imparted in covered an oft ignored topic.
It certainly enhanced my sense of how abundant life truly is within the soil unseen. I will admit reading it straight through got a bit repetitive since it is really guide and it cover so many species.
Just the number of beetles alone is kind of daunting Still a good reference to have about and something to expand your thinking a bit. Feb 02, Benjamin added it Shelves: This is more of a field guide than a sit-down-and-read book. I bought it a while ago and love it. It already taught me why I keep seeing little crayfish on the paved paths of Golden Gate Park. Interesting read so far.
Not overly technical, yet enough to chew on. Nardi writes with almost a prose voice about the natural world in a way that evokes place enjoyably. Sep 28, Ashley Millet rated it it was amazing. A very helpful and beautiful natural history book. Jan 12, Nancy F rated it it was amazing. Great illustrations make the critters cuter. Jun 18, Randy rated it really liked it. The soil formation section at the beginning is my favorite part of the book. Apr 05, Katie rated it liked it. Meanigful reading given the rate at which the world is losing its topsoil.
Soil capable of supporting plant life requires a complex array of biological and chemical processes made possible by the organisms that cohabit between the lifeless specks of pulverized rock and transform it into the medium we know as soil. When we've killed off these organisms, the remaining particles wash away, blow away, and leave formerly fertile ground barren.
Erosion of topsoil is taking place faster than the earth Meanigful reading given the rate at which the world is losing its topsoil. Erosion of topsoil is taking place faster than the earth can create soil. Once it's gone, we cannot grow food.
Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners
Sep 27, Troy rated it liked it Shelves: This is a thorough, informative book that provides good detail on a wide variety of organisms which call the soil their home. You will most likely come away from this book having learned some interesting facts about creatures. The book itself is divided endlessly into headings upon subheadings, so it reads more like a textbook than a novel. All members of the animal kingdom are represented, and each group is accompanied by a fact box that contains the scientific classification, size, common names, their place in the soil food web and their impact on gardening.
If the book contained only these boxes, it would be worth it. However, Nardi is a skilled scientific illustrator as well as a biologist.
- Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners - James B. Nardi - Google Книги.
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Almost every page has a detailed picture of the organisms with size reference he is describing, often showing not only the animal but its habitat, including those it eats or those that eat it. You will surely recognize animals you have seen before but were not able to identify. From the ground squirrels you see in Denali to wireworms, caterpillars and moths, flies, wasps, ants, japygids and earwigs, Life in the Soil will help you understand and identify the life in your soil. Birders have their Petersons and Sibleys. There are guides to snakes, butterflies, mammals and all sorts of other natural things.
Now we gardeners have a guide to the critters that make up the soil food web. This scientifically up-to-date book is also enjoyable to read it will be useful as a field guide and reference.
Liam Heneghan Chicago Wilderness Magazine. At approximately pages, Soil can afford to dazzle as well as inform. The reader may emerge not only a more astute naturalist and steward of the soil, but also will come away with a few pleasing tidbits to share. Here is science writing at its best: Edwards Quarterly Review of Biology.
The overall quality of production of the book is excellent and it is very good value for its price. I can recommend it higly to all naturalists and it will also find a place on the bookshelve of most soil ecologists as an excellent reference. Martine Plant Science Bulletin. I love this book. Life in the Soil is what descriptive natural history books should all be, but too few actually are.
It is appropriately detailed and comprehensive, but it is also easy and fun to read. The enthusiasm of the author and his own sense of wonder come through loud and clear in both his words and his artwork. This book could be the missing link for introductory soils courses for nonmajors, fish and wildlife programs, soil biology courses,.
I love this book and hope to incorporate it into my soils for non-majors class.
Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, Nardi
For more information, or to order this book, please visit https: Botany Natural History Earth Sciences: This is a book that can be read by naturalists and gardeners like a novel as the drama of the soil is churned forth, plowed through and dug into. You'll learn about wolf spiders with glowing red eyes, snails with rows of teeth, and lime molds, mites and roundworms in such a manner that they become allies in the fight to keep our earth and our soil healthy. This is a unique book written by a biologist who makes the case that life itself depends on how well we treat all those millions of creatures right under our soles.
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. Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime. Read more Read less.
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Add all three to Cart Add all three to List. One of these items ships sooner than the other. Buy the selected items together This item: Life in the Soil: Ships from and sold by Amazon. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Discoveries in the Garden. The Soil Will Save Us: The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health.
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Biologist Nardi not only catalogues organisms—from algae to wombats—that live in soil, but also explains their roles in the web of life. Aimed at gardeners as well as naturalists, with a final section on DIY composting, this book uncovers the densely populated world that exists, literally, right under our feet, bringing to light countless flies and beetles, and such underground stars as termites and earthworms.
No book could describe them all; this one identifies larger groups: A very useful survey. Jim Nardi has now filled that void. The cast of characters in this underground drama runs into the millions. Nardi has the figures, and his book is punctuated with tables, diagrams, charts and artwork—his own art—which together make this book a most reasonable encyclopedia. Farmers and gardeners will walk into the light when they read this one, especially those who compost and measure life itself in terms of bio-correct growing.
It is well worth owning. Not only did I find it a great read, but it is a reference book I will turn to often. Nardi subtitles his book A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners. This is apt as Life in the Soil does a fantastic job of describing often in exquisite and fascinating detail the major players on the soil food web stage.
I couldn't put it down. OK, I admit that I am a soil nerd, and naturally this kind of work would appeal to me, but honestly, each page contains so much information presented so well that all gardeners will benefit greatly from owning it. For starters, the book is extremely well-organized. All members of the animal kingdom are represented, and each group is accompanied by a fact box that contains the scientific classification, size, common names, their place in the soil food web and their impact on gardening.
If the book contained only these boxes, it would be worth it. However, Nardi is a skilled scientific illustrator as well as a biologist.
Almost every page has a detailed picture of the organisms with size reference he is describing, often showing not only the animal but its habitat, including those it eats or those that eat it. You will surely recognize animals you have seen before but were not able to identify. From the ground squirrels you see in Denali to wireworms, caterpillars and moths, flies, wasps, ants, japygids and earwigs, Life in the Soil will help you understand and identify the life in your soil.
Birders have their Petersons and Sibleys. There are guides to snakes, butterflies, mammals and all sorts of other natural things. Now we gardeners have a guide to the critters that make up the soil food web. This scientifically up-to-date book is also enjoyable to read it will be useful as a field guide and reference. University of Chicago Press October 15, Language: Page 1 of 1 Start Over Page 1 of 1. Comprehensive with beautiful drawings by the author!