https://amazonrestore.codeberg.page/badass-fruiterrarist-land/
In a tropical #rainforest like the #Amazon , there is usually very little topsoil. The year-round growth results in any organic matter that falls to the ground being quickly taken up by the trees and other vegetation. The fertility is not in the #soil but rather in the #forest itself. So what effect does #deforestation have on the soil? The lack of canopy cover exposes it to sun and wind and rain. Organic matter left over from the deforestation (if it is not burnt) gets baked to death and then blown or washed away. The roots die, and with nothing to hold the upper layer of soil in place, anything that may have resembled topsoil is also washed away. The subsoil below is lateritic #clay in which most plants would struggle to sprout, let alone survive to maturity. In some places, the #erosion that follows deforestation is so severe that the underlying rock is exposed. #Senna alata (shown in the final photo) is one of the few pioneer trees that can grow in such shallow, infertile, desecrated soil. We express our gratitude for #trees like this that make #reforestation of difficult areas possible, even as we recognise that #conservation of the remaining #AmazonRainforest is the only real solution.
#Amazonia #TreesNotGrass











