This issue's cover: Grasslands cover a quarter of the earth's terrestrial surface. The effects of soil temperature, soil water content, soil organic C, and plant development on soil and whole-ecosystem respiration were characterized from a tallgrass prairie in Kansas to better understand the role of soil biological activity on global change. See "Environmental Controls on Soil and Whole-Ecosystem Respiration from a Tallgrass Prairie" by Kathrin Franzluebbers, Alan J. Franzluebbers, and Michael D. Jawson, p. 254-262.