This book brings together 102 experts from multiple disciplines and 28 countries to report on the science and the innovation going on for sustainable soil-system management. While accepting some continuing role for chemical and other external inputs in 21st-century agriculture, this book presents a variety of ways in which crops can be produced more abundantly and more cheaply with lessened dependence on the exogenous resources that have driven the expansion of agriculture in the past. Including the work of both researchers and practitioners around the world, Biological Approaches to Sustainable Soil Systems : explores problems and solutions for soil systems in a variety of climate conditions; Discusses the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants and soil organisms, looking at crops as integral and interdependent participants in ecosystems; Seeks to reduce the distance between scientific research and technical practice; Examines related considerations such as pest and disease control, climatic change, methods for fertility restoration, and measurement, monitoring and modeling to improve soil-system management.