Five centuries of soil evolution after coastal wetland reclamation

Soil evolution has been tradtionally investigated under natural conditions. The anthropogenic soil chronosequences in the coastal areas of China, which resulted from cultivation of soils derived from coastal wetland reclamation over hundreds to thousands of years, provide precious opportunities to study soil evolution under intensive human disturbances. This book presents a case study that integrated the physical, chemical and microbiological aspects of soil evolution during 500 years of cultivation using an anthropogenic soil chronosequence on the Chongming Island, China. This study should progress our understanding of long-term soil dynamics in a human-dominated world today.