Lavelle Patrick auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Soil zoology and soil ecology have become very active fields of research since the early 1990s. A search in the ISI Web of Science databases showed a steady increase in publications about that theme over the last two decades, and 3,612 bibliographic references were found for that theme for the period of 2004 to 2008. The researches covered mostly soil environmental issues, toxicology and ecology. The issue of theoretical development in soil ecology is discussed, and arguments are presented against the idea that the soil ecology theory is deficient. Finally, the need for a general model of soil function and soil management is discussed and some options are presented to reach this goal. specialized auto organization panarchy soil ecology soil zoology 074 44 8 803-810 2009 0100-204X https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010048476 0100-204X [F B010048476] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010048476 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2010/01/010048476.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2010-02-08 2017-08-23 fdi:010048476 fre