Ecosystem Services and Tropical Soils of India

1: Overview and Introduction.- 2: Agro-Ecological Regions for Better Crop Planning and Ecosystem Services.- 3: Organic Carbon Sequestration and Eco-System Service of Indian Tropical Soils.- 4: Is Soil Inorganic Carbon (CaCO3, SIC) Sequestration A Bane or A Hidden Treasure in Soil Eco-System Services?.- 5: Soil Modifiers (Ca-zeolite and Gypsum) as Ecosystem Engineers in Soils of Humid and Semi-Arid Tropical Climates.- 6: Degradation in Indian Tropical Soils: A Commentary.- 7: Summary and Concluding Remarks.

Dr. D.K. Pal obtained M.Sc. (Ag) degree in Agricultural Chemistry with specialization in Soil Science in 1970, and earned his Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Chemistry in 1976 from the Calcutta University. He worked as a DAAD Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Institute of Soil Science, University of Hannover, West Germany during 1980-81. He worked as the Principal Scientist and Head, Division of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR-NBSS & LUP, Nagpur, India and as a visiting scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Telangana.

Dr. Pal's work on the major soil types of tropical environments of India has expanded the basic knowledge in pedology, paleopedology, soil taxonomy, soil mineralogy, soil micromorphology, and edaphology. He also created an internationally recognized school of thought on the development and management of the Indian tropical soils, and has mentored several M.Sc. and Ph.D. students of Land Resource Management. He has delivered numerous prestigious invited lectures at national and international meets and served as a reviewer for many journals of national and international repute, and contributed reviews and book chapters for national and international publishers. Dr. Pal is the life member of many professional national societies in soil and earth science, and has also been conferred with many national awards and fellowships.