Tropical Rainforest Characteristics Soil
Characteristics of the tropical forest.
Tropical rainforest characteristics soil. Millions of years of weathering have washed most of the nutrients out of the soil. Many of these soils are oxisols and ultisols. During the 100 million years rain wash the minerals of the soil out which make the soil acidic and poor in nutrients.
Very high annual rainfall high average temperatures nutrient-poor soil and high levels of biodiversity species richness. Some tropical trees have developed huge buttress roots to absorb nutrients from the soil. Bacteria and fungi then break down most of the organic matter.
Despite the amount of vegetation in the rainforest the soil contains less organic matter than that of temperate forests because the warm humid conditions encourage faster decay and recycling of nutrients back into living forest. The soils of tropical rainforests are characterized by rapid recycling of fallen leaves and other organic matter due to the large biomass of the rainforest. Only about 20 of tropical soils are suitable for agriculture.
This high rate of decomposition is the result of phosphorus levels in the soils precipitation high temperatures and the extensive microorganism communities. The soils of tropical rainforests are characterized by rapid recycling of fallen leaves and other organic matter due to the large biomass of the rainforest. In the Amazon tropical rainforest the soil are mostly several metres deep.
Runoff and soil erosion characteristics were investigated in three small catchments a virgin forest catchment C1 a 10-year-old line plantation catchment C2 and a 1-year-old line plantation catchment C3. It is red in colour because it is rich in iron. Soil in the tropical rainforest is particularly very poor because the soil is more than 100 million years old.
Characteristics of soils in the tropical rainforest biome of Biosphere 2 after 3 years. The recurring features of rainforests are basically the following. There are 4 layers of soil in the tropical rain forest.