- Email: [email protected]
Integrated soil and sediment research
Book Reviews/ EcologicalModelling74 (1994)311-317
313
definitive answer, but will certainly contribute to a discussion with a wider spectrum of viewpoints. Sven Erik Jcrgensen Langkaer Vaenge 9 3500 VaerlOse Copenhagen Denmark
SSDI 0304-3800(94)00063-N
Integrated Soil and Sediment Research
Integrated Soil and Sediment Research: A Basis for Proper Protection. Selected Proceedings of the First European Conference on Integrated Research for Soil and Sediment Protection and Remediation (EUROSOL), Maastricht 6-12 September 1992. J.P. Eijsackers and Timo Hamers (Editors). Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, 765 pp., US $236, £160, ISBN 0-7923-2321-1. Soil pollution is a crucial pollution problem in the entire industrial world. How can we clean-up after the industrial boom in the fifties, sixties and the beginning of the seventies, until soil pollution was recognized as a problem? Where should we clean up? And how can we set standards? These are two of the main questions that we have to deal with in the future to omit the mistakes of the past. The volume "Integrated Soil and Sediment Research: A Basis for Protection" attempts to answer these questions or rather to discuss how these questions will be answered in the coming years in Europe. The volume consists of 161 selected papers including posters from the Eurosol conference in Maastricht, September 1992. The papers deal with different details in the series of relevant questions and problems related to the above mentioned main questions. They reflect of course different opinions, but due to formulation of key questions, named themes in the book, it is indeed possible to follow a red thread through the volume. Various keynotes bind furthermore the various papers together and make the book more homogeneous than most proceedings. And as the volume contains many excellent presentations, the book can be recommended to everybody interested in the latest developments in soil pollution problems. The first theme, covering 150 pages, is "Soil and Policies and the Need for Integrated Soil Research". Particular interesting in this section is the discussion round setting of standards in relation to reference values - a topic which is covered by 20 papers. The conclusion is clear: we need standards, but they have to be flexible and not too rigid. Many good proposals in this direction are given in the text. Another interesting topic within the framework of this theme is "Integrated Soil Research for Low Input Agriculture". The question is "Can we develop a low input agriculture?" The question is definitively answered by "Yes", but another
314
Book Reviews / Ecological Modelling 74 (1994) 311-317
and maybe more difficult question is " H o w can it be implemented in the European agricultural policy, which is full of many controversial questions, already?" The second theme of the book is: "Assessment of Soil Quality and Soil Vulnerability". It covers three essential sub-themes, which present the-state-ofthe-art in soil research. The three topics are: (1) speciation and bioavailability, which is particularly well examined for heavy metal pollution; (2) soil ecotoxicity testing; and (3) rehabilitation and erosion management. The conclusion is clearly that the research in these areas is well advanced, but the implementation is halting behind. The third theme is: "Approaches in Integrated Soil Research." The sub-themes are: (1) Spatial Interpolation in Relation to Soil Contamination, (2) Decision Support System and (3) Farming by Soil: Using Information Systems for Sitespecific Fertilization. This part of the book attempts to cover the tools applicable to real management problems and touches therefore such topics as modelling, application of GIS, soil classification systems, the application of data bases on soil properties, methods for assessment of risks and hazards, and application of expert systems. It is an interesting part of the book, although it contains the most heterogeneous passages of the volume. Some of the papers are drawing the state-of-the-art, and some (a few) papers do not contain anything new, at all. Theme four deals with a core problem: "Managing Problems of Soil and Sediment Pollution". How can we treat contaminated soil and sediment? A comprehensive answer to this question is given on 161 pages, covering 36 papers. The methods are divided into ex situ treatment, where all available methods of today are covered, hydrogeochemical management of contaminated soil and in situ treatments. This part of the book gives an excellent review of existing methods, their applicability and latest results. The last theme is economic: " Soil Quality: Burden or Business Opportunity". It is covered by only five papers and does not on the 40 pages cover the real issue. A comprehensive index facilitates the use of the book as a handbook in soil management and research. The volume is a long needed contribution to three essential questions in soil and sediment research and management: How can we set standards and classify contaminated soil quality? How can we develop integrated soil management, for instance in conjunction with low input agriculture? Which methods have we available today for soil and sediment management? If you are interested in these three questions, this volume will give the state-of-the-art answer, while the book is not recommendable to the readers who are interested in soil research in general, soil quality and agricultural productivity or the economy involved in soil management and decontamination. Sven Erik Jcrgensen
Langkaer Veenge 9 3500 Vcerlcse Copenhagen Denmark SSDI 0304-3800(94)00060-U
313
definitive answer, but will certainly contribute to a discussion with a wider spectrum of viewpoints. Sven Erik Jcrgensen Langkaer Vaenge 9 3500 VaerlOse Copenhagen Denmark
SSDI 0304-3800(94)00063-N
Integrated Soil and Sediment Research
Integrated Soil and Sediment Research: A Basis for Proper Protection. Selected Proceedings of the First European Conference on Integrated Research for Soil and Sediment Protection and Remediation (EUROSOL), Maastricht 6-12 September 1992. J.P. Eijsackers and Timo Hamers (Editors). Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, 765 pp., US $236, £160, ISBN 0-7923-2321-1. Soil pollution is a crucial pollution problem in the entire industrial world. How can we clean-up after the industrial boom in the fifties, sixties and the beginning of the seventies, until soil pollution was recognized as a problem? Where should we clean up? And how can we set standards? These are two of the main questions that we have to deal with in the future to omit the mistakes of the past. The volume "Integrated Soil and Sediment Research: A Basis for Protection" attempts to answer these questions or rather to discuss how these questions will be answered in the coming years in Europe. The volume consists of 161 selected papers including posters from the Eurosol conference in Maastricht, September 1992. The papers deal with different details in the series of relevant questions and problems related to the above mentioned main questions. They reflect of course different opinions, but due to formulation of key questions, named themes in the book, it is indeed possible to follow a red thread through the volume. Various keynotes bind furthermore the various papers together and make the book more homogeneous than most proceedings. And as the volume contains many excellent presentations, the book can be recommended to everybody interested in the latest developments in soil pollution problems. The first theme, covering 150 pages, is "Soil and Policies and the Need for Integrated Soil Research". Particular interesting in this section is the discussion round setting of standards in relation to reference values - a topic which is covered by 20 papers. The conclusion is clear: we need standards, but they have to be flexible and not too rigid. Many good proposals in this direction are given in the text. Another interesting topic within the framework of this theme is "Integrated Soil Research for Low Input Agriculture". The question is "Can we develop a low input agriculture?" The question is definitively answered by "Yes", but another
314
Book Reviews / Ecological Modelling 74 (1994) 311-317
and maybe more difficult question is " H o w can it be implemented in the European agricultural policy, which is full of many controversial questions, already?" The second theme of the book is: "Assessment of Soil Quality and Soil Vulnerability". It covers three essential sub-themes, which present the-state-ofthe-art in soil research. The three topics are: (1) speciation and bioavailability, which is particularly well examined for heavy metal pollution; (2) soil ecotoxicity testing; and (3) rehabilitation and erosion management. The conclusion is clearly that the research in these areas is well advanced, but the implementation is halting behind. The third theme is: "Approaches in Integrated Soil Research." The sub-themes are: (1) Spatial Interpolation in Relation to Soil Contamination, (2) Decision Support System and (3) Farming by Soil: Using Information Systems for Sitespecific Fertilization. This part of the book attempts to cover the tools applicable to real management problems and touches therefore such topics as modelling, application of GIS, soil classification systems, the application of data bases on soil properties, methods for assessment of risks and hazards, and application of expert systems. It is an interesting part of the book, although it contains the most heterogeneous passages of the volume. Some of the papers are drawing the state-of-the-art, and some (a few) papers do not contain anything new, at all. Theme four deals with a core problem: "Managing Problems of Soil and Sediment Pollution". How can we treat contaminated soil and sediment? A comprehensive answer to this question is given on 161 pages, covering 36 papers. The methods are divided into ex situ treatment, where all available methods of today are covered, hydrogeochemical management of contaminated soil and in situ treatments. This part of the book gives an excellent review of existing methods, their applicability and latest results. The last theme is economic: " Soil Quality: Burden or Business Opportunity". It is covered by only five papers and does not on the 40 pages cover the real issue. A comprehensive index facilitates the use of the book as a handbook in soil management and research. The volume is a long needed contribution to three essential questions in soil and sediment research and management: How can we set standards and classify contaminated soil quality? How can we develop integrated soil management, for instance in conjunction with low input agriculture? Which methods have we available today for soil and sediment management? If you are interested in these three questions, this volume will give the state-of-the-art answer, while the book is not recommendable to the readers who are interested in soil research in general, soil quality and agricultural productivity or the economy involved in soil management and decontamination. Sven Erik Jcrgensen
Langkaer Veenge 9 3500 Vcerlcse Copenhagen Denmark SSDI 0304-3800(94)00060-U