Effects of Soil Ecosystem Management on Nematode Pests, Nutrient Cycling, and Plant Health.

Human efforts to produce ever-greater amounts of food reached a historic pinnacle in 1981 (11), and a landmark 1991 United Nations study estimated that soil in 552 million hectares of land, equal to 38% of today’s global cultivated area, had been degraded to some degree by agricultural mismanagement since WWII (11). Although theuse of modern agricultural technologies to increase yield has become an effective substitute for land expansion, global agroecosystems are becoming more vulnerable to supply failures than when expansion to new land areas was an option. These issues have increased public awareness of soil ecology and the importance of maintaining soil health in agroecosystems.