Soil Organic Matter: Key to Sustainable Soils

This book presents a comprehensive examination of soil organic matter, encompassing its composition, distribution, pools, and reactive functional groups, as well as its decomposition, nutrient transformations, and biochemistry of humus formation. Additionally, the book delves into the role of soil organic matter in pedogenic processes, adsorption of organic compounds by clay, clay-organic matter complexes, humus-trace metals interactions, and humus-pesticides interactions. The book also discusses the environmental significance of humic substances and provides a characterization of soil organic matter. Furthermore, the book elucidates the potentials of nuclear techniques in the study of soil organic matter and offers various management practices for building organic matter in soils. The book is a valuable resource for researchers, scholars, and all stakeholders involved in sustainable agriculture and soil organic matter.