Elsa Abs
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; and Institute of Biology of Ecole Normale Superieure (IBENS), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), INSERM, PSL University, Paris, France

Deonie Allen
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Tomoko Kawaguchi Akitsu
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Lucas Aschwanden
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Scott W. Bailey
US Forest Service, Northern Research Station, North Woodstock, New Hampshire, USA

Zsuzsanna Balogh‐Brunstad
Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York, USA

Biraj B. Basak
ICAR‐Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR), Anand, India

Stéphane Binet
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; and Institute of Earth Sciences, ISTO, University of Orléans, BRGM, Orléans, France

Dipak R. Biswas
Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, India

Susan L. Brantley
Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Casey Bryce
Geomicrobiology Group, Centre for Applied Geoscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Carmen I. Burghelea
Biosphere 2, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Lluis Camarero
Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes, CSIC, Blanes, Girona, Spain

Jon Chorover
Department of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Adrien Claustres
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Charles Cockell
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Luca Da Ros
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

François De Vleeschouwer
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; and Franco‐Argentine Institute for the Study of Climate and its Impacts, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Alice Dohnalkova
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA

Katerina Dontsova
Department of Environmental Science, and Biosphere 2, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Ronald I. Dorn
School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Pilar Durantez
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Régis Ferrière
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA; and Institute of Biology of Ecole Normale Superieure (IBENS), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), INSERM, PSL University, Paris, France; and International Center for Interdisciplinary and Global Environmental Studies (iGLOBES), CNRS, ENS, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Didier Galop
GEODE, Geography of the Environment, University of Jean‐Jaurès Toulouse, France, and LabEx DRIIHM (ANR‐11‐LABX‐0010), INEE‐CNRS,Paris, France

Laure Gandois
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Yves Goddéris
Environmental Geosciences Toulouse, CNRS—Midi‐Pyrénées Observatory, Toulouse, France

Sarah Godsey
Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA

Sophia V. Hansson
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; and Department of Bioscience – Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Marilen Haver
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Elizabeth Herndon
Department of Geology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA

Séverine Jean
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Lauren Kinsman‐Costello
Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA

Pascal Laffaille
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Hanna Landenmark
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Gaël Le Roux
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Li Li
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Stephen Lofts
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

Claire Marie‐Loudon
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Rebecca Lybrand
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Ashis Maity
ICAR‐National Research Center for Pomegranate, Solapur, India

Laurent Marquer
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; and GEODE, Geography of the Environment, CNRS, University of Jean‐Jaurès Toulouse, France

Florence Mazier
GEODE, Geography of the Environment, University of Jean‐Jaurès Toulouse, France

Bryan Moravec
Department of Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Hiroyuki Muraoka
River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Yanagido, Gifu, Japan

Shin Nagai
Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology, Showamachi, Kanazawa‐ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan; and Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research, Japan Agency for Marine‐Earth Science and Technology, Showamachi, Kanazawa‐ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

Thomas Nägler
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Kenlo Nishida Nasahara
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Natasha Nicholson
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Jose Miguel Sánchez‐Pérez
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Thomas Pettke
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Marie‐Claire Pierret
Laboratory of Hydrology and Geochemistry of Strasbourg, EOST, Strasbourg University, CNRS, Strasbourg, France

Anne Probst
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Christopher T. Reinhard
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Thomas Rosset
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Loredana Saccone
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath, UK

Taku M. Saitoh
River Basin Research Center, Gifu University, Yanagido, Gifu, Japan

Toby Samuels
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; and Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Sabine Sauvage
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Dirk S. Schmeller
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Anaelle Simonneau
Institute of Earth Sciences, ISTO, University of Orléans, BRGM, Orléans, France

Kyle Smart
Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York, USA

Mark M. Smits
Applied Biology, HAS University of Applied Sciences, Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands

Adam H. Stevens
UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Pamela L. Sullivan
College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Roman Teisserenc
Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France

Igor Villa
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; and University Center for Dating and Archaeometry, University of Milan Bicocca, Milano, Italy

Andrea Voegelin
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Dragos G. Zaharescu
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Biogeochemical cycles describe the flow of various elements through Earth’s critical zone. These cycles are interconnected and strongly influenced by water and energy fluxes, including chemical energy preserved in organic compounds, which influence and are influenced by ecological processes and climate shifts. This book provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding many aspects of biogeochemical cycles in the context of global change. The book also highlights areas of need for forming collaborations and method development to gain a better understanding of the cause and effect relationships between biogeochemical cycling of elements, climate shifts, human impacts and disturbances, and ecological responses. In addition, it is important to place an emphasis on further investigations of the interconnections between traditionally studied natural ecosystems, frontier ecosystems, and managed (agricultural) systems, because they are all part of global cycles and subjected to global changes that affect the biogeochemical cycling of elements.

Most of the current publications in the area of biogeochemical cycles focus exclusively on carbon and how it is influenced by climate change, as well as feedbacks between climate change and biogeochemical processes linked to the fate of carbon. However, other element cycles are equally affected by climate change and other human activities, even if they do not provide direct feedback to the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and therefore climate change. In the past decade, many research groups around the globe invested in further examination of Earth’s critical zone in order to evaluate the effect of the rapidly increasing population and industrialization of developing nations on ecosystems and geochemical cycles. The results showed that Earth undergoes rapid changes in response to human activities and some subsystems are extremely vulnerable to ongoing changes; for example, permafrost, mountain, and desert ecosystems. The warming and drying of these ecosystems causes an increase in carbon release into the atmosphere in the form of CO₂ and methane, which provides positive feedback to global warming and triggers changes in other elemental cycles.

This book is organized into three sections, starting with a summary of all biological drivers of weathering and carbon sequestration (Chapter 1), detailed descriptions of plant‐induced rock weathering (Chapter 2) and microbial weathering (Chapter 3), available analytical techniques to study the impact of biological weathering on small‐scales (Chapter 4), and modeling approaches to examine changes in CO₂ flux due to respiration as climate changes (Chapter 5). The second section focuses on relationships between structure and function of the critical zone with respect to biogeochemical processes (Chapter 6), on plagioclase weathering and soil formation in ecosystems historically affected by anthropogenic acid deposition (Chapter 7), on molybdenum (Chapter 8) and other trace metal cycling in mountain environments (Chapter 9), and prediction of future changes in the critical zone (Chapter 10). The third section provides some insights into how spatial and temporal variability of vegetation in a changing environment can be quantified (Chapter 11), how permafrost ecosystems respond to changes in climate (Chapter 12), how rock varnish responds to anthropogenic disturbances (Chapter 13), and how natural sources of phosphorus and potassium can improve the sustainability of managed systems (Chapter 14). Lastly, the book summarizes challenges and opportunities of studying the biogeochemical cycles under changing environments (Chapter 15).

This book grew out of the Goldschmidt conference session titled “Ecological Drivers of Biogeochemical Cycles under Changing Environment” held in Yokohama, Japan in 2016. Original research was presented during the conference. However, for the purpose of this book, the editors encouraged the contributors to provide a more inclusive overview and summarize the current state of knowledge in the areas of their expertise.

The editors would like to acknowledge the following reviewers: Deonie Allen, Megan Andrews, Keith A. Brunstad, Dawn Cardace, Anthony Chappaz, Salvatore Gazze, David H. Griffing, Kate Heckman, Peter Hooda, Thomas Houet, Nina Koele, Yizhang Liu, Carmen Nezat, Oluyinka Oyewumi, Julia Perdrial, Julie Pett‐Ridge, Viktor Polyakov, Olivier Pourret, Frank Ramos, Jennifer Reeve, Toby Samuels, Marjorie Schulz, Debjani Sihi, Benjamin Sulman, Roman Teisserenc, and Kimberly Wickland.