Despite the high plant productivity in tropical rainforests, the soil is not ideal for agriculture. Explain why this is true
What will be the ideal response?
ANSWER: One might think that the soil beneath the forest’s canopy would be excellent for agriculture. Actually, this is not true. As heavy rain falls on the soil, the water works its way downward, removing nutrients in a process called leaching. Strangely enough, many of the nutrients needed to sustain the lush forest actually come from dead trees that decompose. The roots of the living trees absorb this matter before the rains leach it away. When the forests are cleared for agricultural purposes, or for the timber, what is left is a thick red soil called laterite. When exposed to the intense sunlight of the tropics, the soil may harden into a bricklike consistency, making cultivation almost impossible.
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