Explain why the soils in tropical rainforests are relatively low in nutrients compared to temperate rain fores

Question

Explain why the soils in tropical rainforests are relatively low in nutrients compared to temperate rain fores

Answer 1

i think the soils there must be productive rather..

the humus formed in soil, results from the fallage of the leaves,

excreta of the fauna there, and from the decomposition of the cellulose there, by termites n all.. and by the grubs of some beetles.

Answer 2

The reason that all the nutrients in tropical rainforests are in the biomass (the living forest) is because the warm and moist conditions create a prefect environment for fungi. Over eons, these fungi have developed a very close relationship with the trees and various plants and assist in almost instantaneous nutrient uptake. In temperate forests, the nutrients are stored as a thick layer of loam as the seasonal frosts create an environment less conducive to the fungal-plant relationship.

Answer 3

The nutrients in the rain forests are in the vegetation.  If they were not in the vegetation they would quickly leach away due to the high rainfall.

Answer 4

Most of it's tied up in biomass

Answer 5

The question is why the soils are relatively low in nutrients.  Without fungi (mychorrizae, etc) there are minerals the plant cannot extract.  The symbiotic connection between root cells and fungi means the fungi receive carbohydrates and the tree receives minerals.  

Fungi do not like heat or flooding (they need air), two common issues in tropical rainforests.  In fact frost is less of a problem, as root/fungal activity continues on even weeks after the surface has frozen.  

However, if the iron, manganese, etc are simply not there, no amount of fungal activity will help.  Tropical rainforests are subject to more flooding and leaching than temperate forests.

The well-drained but wet and mineral-abundant temperate rain-forest along the Pacific Northwest, for example, has ten times the biomass of the tropical rainforest in most of Central and South America.

Answer 6

Too much rain can wash the soil of it's nutrients.