VOLKMAR WOLTERS,^* WHENDEE L. SILVER,^** DAVID E. BIGNELL,^*** DAVID C. COLEMAN,^**** PATRICK LAVELLE,^***** WIM H. VAN DER PUTTEN,^****** PETER DE RUITER,^******* JOSEF RUSEK,^******** DIANA H. WALL,^********* DAVID A. WARDLE,^********** LIJBERT BRUSSARD,^*********** JOHN M. DANGERFIELD,^************ VALERIE K. BROWN,^{*************} KEN E. GILLER,^{**************} DAVID U. HOOPER,^{***************} OSVALDO SALA,^{****************} JAMES TIEDJE,^{*****************} JOHANNES A. VAN VEEN<sup>******************

*</sup>Volkmar Wolters (volkmar.wolters@allzool.bio.uni-giessen.de) is a professor at the Department of Animal Ecology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Giessen, D-35392, Germany.
^**Whendee L. Silver is a professor at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720–3110.
^***David E. Bignell is a professor at the Queen Mary and Westfield College, School of Biological Sciences, University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
^****David C. Coleman is a professor at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602–2360.
^*****Patrick Lavelle is a professor at the Laboratoire d'Ecologie de Sols Tropicaux, ORSTOM/Université Paris VI, 93143 Bondy, France.
^******Wim H. van der Putten is a professor at the Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, 6666 ZG Heteren, Netherlands.
^*******Peter de Ruiter is a professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, University of Utrecht, 3508 TC, Utrecht, Netherlands.
^********Josef Rusek is director, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Soil Biology, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
^*********Diana H. Wall is chair, SCOPE Committee on Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning, and professor and director, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523.
^**********David A. Wardle is a scientist at Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand.
^***********Lijbert Brussaard is professor of soil biology and biological soil quality and director of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, 6700 EC Wageningen, Netherlands.
^************John M. Dangerfield is a professor at the Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources of School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
^{*************}Valerie K. Brown is Director of Environment, CABI Bioscience UK Centre, Ascot, SL5 7TA, United Kingdom.
^{**************}Ken E. Giller is a professor at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
^{***************}David U. Hooper is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225–9160.
^{****************}Osvaldo Sala is a professor in the Department of Ecology, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 1417, Argentina.
^{*****************}James Tiedje is a professor at the Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824–1325.
^{******************}Johannes A. van Veen is a professor at Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Center for Terrestrial Ecology (NIOO–CTO), 6666 ZG Heteren, Netherlands.