Soil invertebrates make up diverse communities living in soil pores and on the soil surface, digging burrows and tunnels, processing organic matter and interacting with microbes.

Nico M. van Straalen is Em. Professor of Animal Ecology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he headed a research program on ecology of soil invertebrates. He specialized in ecotoxicology, molecular ecology and evolutionary biology. He became mainly known for his contributions to environmental risk assessment of soil pollution but has many other research interests like human evolution and the origin of life. This book builds on his expertise on springtails, isopods, mites and earthworms.