This book provides a selection of microbiological methods which are applicable or already applied in regional or national soil quality monitoring programmes. An overview is given of approaches to monitoring, evaluating and managing soil quality (Part I), followed by a selection of methods which are described in sufficient detail to use the book as a practical handbook in the laboratory (Part II). Finally a census is given of the main methods used in over 30 European laboratories. The book is aimed at different levels: soil scientists, technicians, policy makers, land managers and students.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Approaches to Defining, Monitoring, Evaluating and Managing Soil Quality 1: Introduction, A Benedetti and O Dilly 2: Defining Soil Quality, R G Burns, P Nannipieri, A Benedetti and D W Hopkins 3: Monitoring and Evaluating Soil Quality, J Bloem, A J Schouten, S J Sørensen, M Rutgers, A van der Werf and A M Breure 4: Managing Soil Quality, M Schloter, J C Munch and F Tittarelli 5: Conclusive Remarks, A Benedetti, P C Brookes and J M Lynch Part II: Selected Methods 6: Microbial Biomass and Numbers 7: Estimating soil microbial biomass, A Fließbach and F Widmer 8: Microbial biomass measurements by fumigation-extraction, P Brookes and R G Joergensen 9: Substrate-induced respiration, H Höper 10: Enumeration and Biovolume Determination of Microbial Cells, M Bölter, J Bloem, K Meiners and R Möller 11: Soil Microbial Activity 12: Estimating soil microbial activity , O Dilly 13: Soil respiration, M Pell, J Stenström and U Granhall 14: Soil nitrogen mineralization, S Canali and A Benedetti 15: Nitrification in soil, A Bollmann 16: Thymidine and leucine incorporation to assess bacterial growth rate, J Bloem and P R Bolhuis 17: N2O emissions and denitrification from soil, U Sehy, M Schloter, H Bothe and J C Munch 18: Enzyme activity profiles and soil quality, L J Shaw and R G Burns 19: Soil Microbial Diversity and Community Composition 20: Estimating soil microbial diversity and community composition, J D van Elsas and M Rutgers 21: Soil microbial community fingerprinting based on total community DNA or RNA, J D van Elsas, E M Top and K Smalla 22: Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses, A Palojärvi 23: Substrate utilisation in Biolog plates for analysis of CLPP, M Rutgers, A M Breure and H Insam 24: Plant-microbe Interactions and Soil Quality 25: Microbial ecology of the rhizosphere, P Lemanceau, P Offre, C Mougel, E Gamalero, Y Dessaux, Y Moënne-Loccoz and G Berta 26: Nodulating symbiotic bacteria and soil quality, A Hartmann, S Mazurier, D N Rodríguez-Navarro, F Temprano Vera, J-C Cleyet-Marel, Y Prin, A Galiana, M Fernández-López, N Toro and Y Moënne-Loccoz 27: Contribution of arbuscular mycorrhiza to soil quality and terrestrial ecotoxicology, S Gianinazzi, E Plumey-Jacquot, V Gianinazzi-Pearson and C Leyval 28: Concepts and methods to assess the phytosanitary quality of soils, C Alabouvette, J Raaijmakers, W de Boer, R Notz, G Défago, C Steinberg and P Lemanceau 29: Free-living plant-beneficial microorganisms and soil quality, Y Moënne-Loccoz, S L Woo, Y Okon, R Bally, M Lorito, P Lemanceau and A Hartman 30: Census of Microbiological Methods for Soil Quality, O Dilly