Soil Ecology deals with the interactions among soil organisms and between such organisms and the environment. Soil Ecology has gained increasing attention d- ing the past years and has contributed to the understanding of ecological processes in many ecosystems. Wetlands, which are unique and very sensitive ecosystems, function as a habitat for many organisms, including soil organisms. Although information on soil ecological processes in wetlands is still lacking, such kno- edge is very much needed for landscape planning purposes and for climate change predictions. This book on the ecology of wetland soils in Central Europe focuses on wetlands as habitats for soil organisms, on soil ecological processes in fens and floodplains, on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soils with different water regimes, and on trace gas emissions. Papers are based on presentations made at a workshop on soil ecological p- cesses in wetlands held at the Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Land Use Research (ZALF) in Mi. incheberg, Germany in 1998. This workshop was organised by the Working Group on Soil Ecology of the German Soil Society. The production of this book was accomplished with much valuable assistance. Manuscripts were reviewed , and constructive suggestions made, by Karl-Georg Bernardt (Vienna, Austria), Hans-Peter Blume (Kiel, Germany), Wolfram Dunger (Gorlitz, Germany), Karl-Heinz Feger (Dresden, Germany), Catherine Fox (L- don, Canada), Thomas Katterer (Uppsala, Sweden), Christian Knoblauch (Bremen, Germany), Pertti Martikainen (Kuopio, Finland), Heinz-Ulrich Neue (Halle, G- many), William H. Patrick (Baton Rouge, U. S. A.
