How Soil Is Formed - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 36

Today, it takes a long time for new soil to develop in areas where the topsoil
has eroded—too long to restore the areas we have destroyed. The best way to
speed up this process is to plant nitrogen-fixing plants that bind carbon and nitro-
gen in the soil as this creates conditions for other plants to establish themselves
and for organic matter to accumulate, in turn creating stable soil that is less prone
to erosion. In the next chapter we will explore how the soil's properties determine
what grows in it—and how the way we manage the land plays a part in determin-
ing what plants will grow there.
Further Readings
Brady NC, Weil RR (2008) The nature and properties of soils. Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Gorbushina A (2007) Minireview, life on the rocks. Environ Microbiol 9:1613-1631
Lambers H et al (2008) Plant nutrient acquisition strategies change with soil age. Trends Ecol
Evol 23:95-103
Smith S, Read D (2008) Mycorrhizal symbiosis, 3rd Edition. Elsevier Academic Press, San
Diego