"A project of SCOPE, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment." Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-226) and index.

Introduction: Opening the Black Box -- Where Nematodes are Lions -- Of Ferns, Bears, and Slime Molds -- The Power of Ecosystem Engineers -- Plowing the Seabed -- Microbes, Muck and Dead Zones -- Fungi and the Fate of Forests -- Grazers, Grass, and Microbes -- Restoring Power to the Soil. "Dirt - the final frontier? Yvonne Baskin leads an intriguing tour of this virtually uncharted territory, from the polar desert of Antarctica to the coastal rain forests of Canada to the vanishing wetlands of the Mississippi River basin. She introduces exotic creatures from nematode worms and mud shrimps to mycorrhizal fungi and explores how their work sustains our green and productive world above. She also explores the alarming threats that air pollution, trawl fishing, wetland destruction, and other human impacts pose to these unique creatures and how their loss, in turn, affects our own well-being."--Jacket.