ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the practical applications of soil biota can enhance the sustainable use of nutrient resources for food production and ecological restoration. It also discusses the management strategies impact soil biota and their role on C cycling and climate regulation, as well as climate change feedbacks on processes governed by soil biota. The dependence of animals such as large vertebrates, birds, lizards, and other invertebrates on soil organisms as food in all ecosystems represent another benefit that soil biota provide, but this can be rapidly lost when soil is disturbed. The examples discussed show that soil biota are increasingly considered and used as a nature-based solution for improving agriculture production and sustainability, to restore degraded ecosystems, and to decontaminate soils and the environment. Nutrient cycling and retention are governed by soil organisms through the movement and transformation of complex organic matter into inorganic nutrients and soil biotic control of the rate of release and use by plants.
