Selim Kapur – Sabit Erşahin (Eds.): Soil Security for Ecosystem Management - Mediterranean Soil Ecosystems 1 SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace, vol. 8. Mediterranean Studies No. 3 (Heidelberg – New York – Dordrecht – London: Springer-Verlag, 2013).

ISBN (Print): 978-3-319-00698-7
ISBN (Online/eBook): 978-3-319-00699-4
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00699-4

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Book Announcements and Book Reviews

This book contains invited and peer-reviewed chapters for the first issue of the Subseries on Mediterranean Soil Ecosystems (MSE), a book publication of the Soil Science Society of Turkey (SSST). This first volume contains seven chapters on “Managing Terrestrial Carbon in a Changing Climate” by Lal Rattan (USA), on “Land Degradation and Security Linkages in the Mediterranean Region” by Winfried E. H. Blum (Germany/Austria), on “Role of soil information in Land Degradation and Desertification Mapping - A review” by Claudio Zucca, Riccardo Biancalani (Italy), Selim Kapur, Erhan Akça (Turkey), Pandi Zdruli, Luca Montanarella (Italy), and Freddy Nachtergaele (Belgium/FAO), on “Pedoenvironments of the Mediterranean countries. Resources and threats” by Franco Previtali (Italy), on “Carbon Cycle and Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems with Specific Reference to Mediterranean and Boreal Regions” by Ahmet R. Mermut (Canada/Turkey), on “Soil and Terroir” by Edoardo Costantini and Pierluigi Bucelli (Italy), and on “Polygenic red calcic soils in coastal Middle Palaeolithic environments, Israel: taxonomy and pedosedimentary reconstructions” by Alexander Tsatskin (Israel). These renowned authors are experts on Mediterranean landuse and traditional and/or traditional renovated technologies, on land management approaches adapted or sought for the sustainable production systems in the Mediterranean Region, The Integrated context of sustainable C-management, the development of the interdisciplinary soil ecosystem management approach, integrated inferences in developing soil quality attributes from the microscope to the field, land/soil degradation and technologies in a global scale and ultimately soil change bound to the impacts of the foreseen future climate change in the Mediterranean region.

Contents Level » Research

Biography of the Editors

Selim Kapur, born in 1946 in Ankara, Turkey. Professor of Soil Science at the Faculty of Agriculture and Chairman of the Dept. of Archaeometry at the University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey. He is the Scientific Comm. Member of the European Soil Bureau Network of the EU-JRC-IES in Ispra, Milan, Italy. He is the earlier Secretary of the International Working Group of Land Degradation and Desertification. Has acted as the Science and Technology Correspondant of Turkey for the UNCCD. He organized the First International Meeting on Land Degradation and Desertification in 1996 in Adana, Turkey.
He led projects supported by NATO, EU, JSPS, TUBITAK, Mitsui Environmental Fund, FAO and GEF related to soil protection and environmental issues. He authored numerous papers in cited and authored/edited books concerning his major fields of study on Land degradation and desertification, archaeometry and soil micromorphology/soil mineralogy. Among his major publications are: Kapur, S., Karaman, C., E.Akça., Aydın, M., Dinç, U., FitzPatrick, E.A., Pagliai, M., Kalmar, D. and Mermut, A.R., 1997. Similarities and Differences Spheroidal Microstructure in Vertisol from Turkey and Israel. CATENA, Vol: 28 No:3-4: 297-311; Cangir, C., Kapur, S., Boyraz, D., Akça, E., and Eswaran, H. 2000. An Assessment of Land Resource Consumption in Relation to Land Degradation Turkey. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 253-259; Zucca, C., Vignozzi, N., Madrau, S., Dingil, M., Previtali, F. And Kapur, S. 2013. Shape and intra-porosity of topsoil aggregates under maquis and pasture in the Mediterranean region. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Elsevier, Wiley. (İn Press); Eswaran, H., Kapur, S., Akca, E., Reich, P., Mahmoodi, S., and Vearasilp, T. 2005. Anthroscapes: A landscape unit for assessment of human impact on land systems. In: J.E.Yang, T.M. Sa, and J.J. Kim (Eds.) Application of the emerging soil research to the conservation of Agricultural Ecosystems. Publ.: The Korean Society of Soil Science and Fertilizers, Seoul, Korea; p. 175-192; Kapur, S., Ryan, J., Akça, E., Çelik, İ., Pagliai, M., Tülün, Y. 2007. Influence of Mediterranean Cereal-based Rotations on Soil Micromorphological Characteristics. GEODERMA 142. 318-324.

Address: University of Çukurova, Department of Soil Science and Archaeometry, 01330, Adana, Turkey.
Email: <kapurs@gmail.com>.
Website: <www.cu.edu.tr>.

Sabit Erşahin was born on 4 December 1963 in Artvin, Turkey, and received his BS and MS degrees from the Department of Soil Science, University of Çukurova. Obtained his Ph.D. from Washington State University on ‘The Solute Transport in Sloping Layered Soils’ under the supervision of Prof. R.I. Papendick in 1996. His major field of study has been soil physics, soil physico-chemistry, hydropedology, modelling, soil management, and alternative agriculture. He presently serves as the vice-rector of the Karatekin University in Çankırı, Turkey. Among his major publications are: Ersahin, S. 2001. Assessment of Spatial Variablity in Nitrate Leaching to Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizers Impact on Water Quality. Agricultural Water Management. 48/3, 179-189; Ersahin, S. 2003. Comparing ordinary kriging and cokriging to estimate infiltration rate. Soil Sci., Soc., Am., J. 67: 1848-1855; Ersahin S., and A. R. Brohi. 2006. Spatial variation of soil water content in topsoil and subsoil of a Typic Usitfluvent. Agricultural Water Management. 83:79-86; Ersahin, S. H. Gunal, T. Kutlu, B. Yetgin, and S. Coban. 2006. Estimating specific surface area and cation exchange capacity in soils with fractal dimension of particle size distribution. Geoderma, 136: 588-597; Kurunç, A, Ersahin, S., Uz, BY., Sonmez, NK., Uz, I, Kamah, H, Bacalan GE, Emekli Y. 2011. Identification of nitrate leaching hot spots in a large area with contrasting soil texture and management. Agricultural Water Management : 98 (6), 1013-1019. DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2011.01.010

Address: Çankırı Karatekin University, Department of Forestry Engineering, Çankiri, Turkey.
Email: <acapsu@gmail.com>.
Website: <sabitersahin.com/index.htm>.

Erhan Akça, born in 11.03.1969 in Adana, Turkey. Assoc.Prof. Dr. at Adiyaman University Technical Programs, Adiyaman, Turkey. His profession is on soil mineralogy, archaeometry and natural resource management. He wrote and contriburted to more than 100 scientific publications (papers, chapters, books) on soil science, archaeometry, land use and desertification. He participated to projects supported by NATO, EU, JSPS, TUBITAK, Mitsui Environmental Fund, FAO and GEF. He is currently scientific board member of Ministry of Forestry and Water Works, General Directorate of Combating to Desertification and Erosion Control of Turkey.
Among his major publications are: Kapur, S., Ryan, J., Akça, E., Çelik, İ., Pagliai, M., Tülün, Y. 2007. Influence of Mediterranean Cereal-based Rotations on Soil Micromorphological Characteristics. GEODERMA 142. 318-324; Akça, E., Çimrin, K.M., Ryan, J., Nagano, T., Topaksu, M., Kapur, S. 2008. Differentiating the natural and man-made terraces of Lake Van, Eastern Anatolia, utilizing earth science methods. Lakes & Reservoirs: Research and Management, 13, (1). (March 2008), 83-93; Ryan, J., Kapur, S. and Akça, E. 2009. Application of Soil Analyses as Markers to Characterise a Middle Eastern Chalcolithic – Late Bronze Age Mound. Turkish Academy of Sciences Journal of Archaeology (TUBA-AR). 12: 65-76; Akça, E., Kapur, S., Tanaka, Y., Kaya, Z., Bedestenci, H.Ç. Yaktı, S. 2010. Afforestation Effect on Soil Quality of Sand Dunes. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. Vol. 19, No. 6, 1109-1116; Akça, E., Fujikara, R. and Sabbağ, Ç. 2013. Atatürk Dam resettlement process: increased disparity resulting from insufficient financial compensation. International Journal of Water Resources Development Vol. 29, No. 1, 101–108.

Address: Adiyaman University, Technical Programs, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Email: erakca@gmail.com.
Website: http://www.adiyaman.edu.tr/abys/index.php?git=a&a_id=80.

New Trends in Soil Micromorphology

Kapur, Selim; Mermut, Ahmet R.; Stoops, Georges (Eds.)

2008, XIV, 276 p. 160 illus.

HardcoverISBN 978-3-540-79133-1
Ebook ISBN 978-3-540-79134-8

The book contains state of the art new research results in micromorphology as well as other disciplines of soil science. It provides very useful up-to-date information for researchers, educators, graduate students interested in microscopic and submicroscopic studies of soils and sediments. In the past, micromorphology has been considered almost solely as a descriptive and interpretative branch of science. Attempts are now made to obtain quantitative data. There has been much progress in applying soil micromorphology in Quaternary geology, in particular identifying and characterizing palaeosols. The new areas for soil micromorphology are soil ecology, materials sciences and archaeology.

Sustainable Land Management
Learning from the Past for the Future

Kapur, Selim; Eswaran, Hari; Blum, Winfried E.H. (Eds.)

2011, XX, 400 p. 206 illus.

Hardcover ISBN 978-3-642-14781-4
Ebook: ISBN 978-3-642-14782-1

Soil quality is threatened by many human-induced activities, but can also be improved by good land management. In the relatively short history of mankind on earth, the landscape and soils of the world have been drastically modified from their "natural " state. Landscapes altered by man's activities are termed "Anthroscapes" which are inextricably linked to culture and history. The challenges for today's scientists are to devise and implement sustainable land management strategies in order to preserve the land for the benefit of future generations. This book is a valuable compendium of the research experiences so far gained in studies of the context and concept of the "Anthroscape" and highlights the potential future contributions of such research to sustainable development.

Land Degradation and Desertification
Assessment, Mitigation and Remediation

Pandi Zdruli, Marcello Pagliai, Selim Kapur and Angel Faz Cano (Eds.), 2010,

ISBN: 978-90-481-8656-3 (Print)
978-90-481-8657-0 (Online)
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8657-0

Land Degradation and Desertification: Assessment, Mitigation, and Remediation reports research results in sustainable land management and land degradation status and mitigation in 36 countries around the world. It includes background papers with continental and international perspectives dealing with land degradation and desertification studies. The book assembles various topics of interest for a large audience. They include carbon sequestration and stocks, modern techniques to trace the trends of land degradation, traditional and modern approaches of resource-base conservation, soil fertility management, reforestation, rangeland rehabilitation, land use planning, GIS techniques in desertification risk cartography, participatory ecosystem management, policy analyses and possible plans for action. Various climatic domains in Africa, Asia, Europe and The Americas are covered. The book will be of interest to a variety of environmental scientists, agronomists, national and international policy makers and a number of organizations dealing with sustainable management of natural resources.