Microbial Earth | compost | bokashi. Charcoal in Soil. Homemade Charcoal Soil. Cyber-Help for Organic Farmers: Let the soil work for us. Elliott, E. T. and Coleman, D. C. 1988. Let the soil work for us. - Ecol. Bull. 39: 23-32. Appropriate management of microbial populations in soil can reduce leakage of excess nutrients from the rooting zone and enhance the fertilizer use efficiency and agroecosystem production. E. Management of microbial populations This paper will concentrate on the general theme of management of microbial populations through modification of their habitat in the soil. It is probably very difficult to directly control the populations of organisms in the soil. The two key factors are the control of the incoming substrates and control of the soil structure.
There are strong feedbacks between the soil organisms and soil structure. Structural controls of soil processes Soil function is a result of a complex combination of physical, chemical and biological processes which are played out in a structurally heterogeneous and materially complex environment (Coleman et al. 1983, Coleman and Elliott 1987).