Fundamentals -- Soil Physical-Chemical-Biological Interfacial Interactions: An Overview -- Sorption and Desorption of Arsenic by Soil Minerals and Soils in the Presence of Nutrients and Organics -- Role of Bacteria and Bacteria-Soil Composites in Metal Biosorption and Remediating Toxic Metal-Contaminated Soil Systems -- Adsorption of Biopolymers, with Special Emphasis on Globular Proteins -- Relationship of Polarity and Structures of Organic Matter with Sorption Capacity for Hydrophobic Organic Compounds -- Organically Modified Clays for Pollutant Uptake and Environmental Protection -- Microbial Transformation of Organic Chemicals in Natural Environments: Fate of Chemicals and Substantiation of Microbial Involvement through Enrichment Culturing Techniques -- Applications -- Soil Organic Matter Quality and the Size and Activity of the Microbial Biomass: Their Significance to the Quality of Agricultural Soils -- Soil Carbon Dynamics in a Subtropical Mountainous Region, South China: Results Based on Carbon Isotopic Tracing -- Bioavailability of Soil-Sorbed Pesticides and Organic Contaminants -- Anticlastogenic and Antitoxic Actions Exerted by Humic Substances in Seedlings of Various Plants -- Soil Heavy Metal Pollution and Microbial Communities: Interactions and Response Assessment -- Changes in Antibiotic Resistance Profile of Soil Bacterial Community in Association with Land Degradation.

The book presents the latest research findings and prospects on soil mineral-organic matter-microorganism interactions. It includes topics covering mechanisms of transformations, dynamics and bioavailability of heavy metals, radionuclides, biomolecules and nutrients immobilized on soil minerals, humic substances, mineral-humic complexes and microorganisms and their impact on plant, animal and human health. The book contains six parts: 1) Transformation and dynamics of pollutants in soil environments, 2) Chemical, biological and biochemical processes in the rhizosphere, 3) Bioavailability of metals and xenobiotics immobilized on soil components, 4) Distribution and activity of biomolecules in terrestrial systems, 5) Interactions between soil microbial biomass and organic matter/nutrient transformations, and 6) Impact of interactions among soil mineral colloids, organic matter and biota on risk assessment and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems.