Re: How dose the soil in a rain forest differ from tipocal Michigan soil ?

I did a search with the terms "tropical" "rainforest" and "soil"







From one website on tropical rainforests:



*	Nutrient poor soil 



*	nutrients locked in trees 



*	laterite = red soil 



*	brick-like if baked in sun







From another site on tropical rainforests







Most tropical forest soils are very poor and infertile. Millions of 



years of weathering and torrential rains have washed most of the 



nutrients out of the soil. More recent volcanic soils, however, can be 



very fertile. Tropical rain forest soils contain less organic matter 



than temperate forests and most of the available nutrients are found in 



the living plant and animal material. 







Nutrient Recycling







Constant warmth and moisture promote rapid decay of organic matter. When 



a tree dies in the rainforest, living organisms quickly absorb the 



nutrients before they have a chance to be washed away. When tropical 



forests are cut and burned, heavy rains can quickly wash the released 



nutrients away, leaving the soil even more impoverished. 



------end of quoted material.-----







It is kind of a paradox that the rainforest has a huge amount of tree growth 



but has poor soils. Most of the organic matter is in the canopy, while the 



soils have had most of the organic "stuff' literally sucked out by the roots 



of the trees.



I am not sure what part of Michigan you are writing from. The type of soil 



varies quite a bit, with the southern half of the state having much richer 



soil. Where I grew up in Traverse City the soil was pretty sandy and not very 



good for general agriculture. The apple growing was very successful, however. 



We definitely needed more humus than we usually had.



To make more humus, you need more organic matter. Compost piles are good ways 



to develop organic matter in a form that will be available to plants. Additions



such as sawdust or pine needles will add organic material but are hard for 



microorganisms to break down. They also have more acid than most plants can 



tolerate. Some plants (rhododendrens, look up the spelling) thrive in acid soil,



but most commercially grown vegetables do not. Rotted cow manure is a 



traditional quick source of the complex mix of organic matter that turns into 



humus after being mixed with sand and clay, and then being "worked on" by soil 



bacteria for a while.



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