"Like all empires, Japan’s prewar empire encompassed diverse territories as well as a variety of political forms for governing such spaces. This book focuses on Japan’s Kwantung Leasehold and Railway Zone in China’s three northeastern provinces. The hybrid nature of the leasehold’s political status vis-à-vis the metropole, the presence of the semipublic and enormously powerful South Manchuria Railway Company, and the region’s vulnerability to inter-imperial rivalries, intra-imperial competition, and Chinese nationalism throughout the first decades of the twentieth century combined to give rise to a distinctive type of settler politics. Settlers sought inclusion within a broad Japanese imperial sphere while successfully utilizing the continental space as a site for political and social innovation. In this study, Emer O’Dwyer traces the history of Japan’s prewar Manchurian empire over four decades, mapping how South Manchuria—and especially its principal city, Dairen—was naturalized as a Japanese space and revealing how this process ultimately contributed to the success of the Japanese army’s early 1930s takeover of Manchuria. Simultaneously, Significant Soil demonstrates the conditional nature of popular support for Kwantung Army state-building in Manchukuo, highlighting the settlers’ determination that the Kwantung Leasehold and Railway Zone remain separate from the project of total empire."

Explains how to create and maintain fertile soil, including advice on choosing fertilizers, improving new sites, fine-tuning for specific plants, and using compost

This profusely illustrated book gives an exhaustive account of the principal types of soils of our planet. The "progressive descent of weathering fronts" model, recognized and used by eminent international scientists is the guiding principle of choice to link the observations and to give the reader a synthetic and coherent view of the differentiati

Soils and Landscape Restoration provides a multidisciplinary synthesis on the sustainable management and restoration of soils in various landscapes. The book presents applicable knowledge of above- and below-ground interactions and biome specific realizations along with in-depth investigations of particular soil degradation pathways. It focuses on severely degraded soils (e.g., eroded, salinized, mined) as well as the restoration of wetlands, grasslands and forests. The book addresses the need to bring together current perspectives on land degradation and restoration in soil science and restoration ecology to better incorporate soil-based information when restoration plans are formulated. - Incudes a chapter on climate change and novel ecosystems, thus collating the perspective of soil scientists and ecologists on this consequential and controversial topic - Connects science to international policy and practice - Includes summaries at the end of each chapter to elucidate principles and key points

The fourth edition of Soil Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry updates this widely used reference as the study and understanding of soil biota, their function, and the dynamics of soil organic matter has been revolutionized by molecular and instrumental techniques, and information technology. Knowledge of soil microbiology, ecology and biochemistry is central to our understanding of organisms and their processes and interactions with their environment. In a time of great global change and increased emphasis on biodiversity and food security, soil microbiology and ecology has become an increasingly important topic. Revised by a group of world-renowned authors in many institutions and disciplines, this work relates the breakthroughs in knowledge in this important field to its history as well as future applications. The new edition provides readable, practical, impactful information for its many applied and fundamental disciplines. Professionals turn to this text as a reference for fundamental knowledge in their field or to inform management practices. - New section on "Methods in Studying Soil Organic Matter Formation and Nutrient Dynamics" to balance the two successful chapters on microbial and physiological methodology - Includes expanded information on soil interactions with organisms involved in human and plant disease - Improved readability and integration for an ever-widening audience in his field - Integrated concepts related to soil biota, diversity, and function allow readers in multiple disciplines to understand the complex soil biota and their function